


waiters

by gvitars



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: F/M, Waiters & Waitresses, waiter!5sos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-30
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-02-06 13:42:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 46,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1860135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gvitars/pseuds/gvitars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by the waiter!5sos imagines on tumblr, the four boys fall in love with four girls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. the one with introductions (part 1)

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of my imagination or are used fictitiously.
> 
> WARNING: This is really shitty. That's all.
> 
> Things you need to know: I KNOW Calum has an older sister, but she won't be mentioned in this story. The schools is fake unless they're actually real in Australia, then never mind, I didn't know. Also, I know Michael should be in high school too if Calum and Luke are in high school as well, but this change is for story purposes only. Sorry!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can read this story on Wattpad as well! It's under the same username :)

"Calum, Maria, hurry up! You'll be late for school at this rate," Mrs. Hood calls from the kitchen. She shakes her head at her two children dashing down the stairs and gives them a packed lunch and a kiss on the cheek as they both rush by. 

"Thank Mum!" Calum calls out before he runs out the door, the lunch bag in his mouth and his keys in his hand.

Maria plops herself down in the passenger seat and exhales a sharp breath. "If we're late to school again, I swear I will-"

Calum rolls his eyes and covers his sister's mouth with his hand. "You threaten me every morning but we always get to school early. Chill!"

She huffs and crosses her arms. How can she chill when there are twenty minutes until the bell rings?

He gears up the engine and backs out of the driveway and in two minutes tops, they're waiting for Michael at his house. Maria glances down at her watch and groans, slamming her head gently onto the glove box. "Calum, there's eighteen minutes left! If we don't make it to-"

One of the doors in the back of the car opens and Michael practically dives in head first, his seat belt already in place and the car already heading towards the freeway. "I'm here!" He looks at Maria's face through the rear view mirror and raises an eyebrow. "Geez, calm down Maria. It's not like you'll get beheaded for being a few minutes late to class."

She gaps at him and sticks her tongue out. "Yes, I will! I have Literature with Ms. Brown for first period and so far, she's a bitch!" she shrieks. Michael and Calum cringes.

"Oh yeah," Calum says, "I'm sorry, sis."

On the other hand, Michael is snickering.

She frowns. "Why are you coming with us anyway? Didn't you already graduate high school?"

"Yeah. Cal's just dropping me off work since I don't feel like taking the bus." He grins proudly. "It's my second week on the job."

 

*~*~*

 

A soft blue Volvo PV544 pulls up in front of Greenwich High School, and two girls exit the car. One has a small stack of papers and a textbook in her hands, and the other has a bowl of cereal.

The one with the books is named Evelyn Gray. She has chestnut-colored hair, slanted and shockingly blue eyes, and the palest skin you'll ever see. Her hair right now is disheveled and so is her outfit; she's wearing all grey sweats and a hoodie. (Paler than Michael's.) 

The one with the bowl of cereal is named Jennell Goble (pronounced Gobble as a nickname because she has a habit of having food in her hand whenever she can). She has dyed midnight blue hair, droopy brown eyes, and a tan complexion. Unlike Evelyn, she's a bit more polished in her Blink-182 t-shirt, leggings, combat boots, and wavy hair that could kill.

They don't look like they could ever be friends, but they are.

"Are you sure we can park here? I'm pretty sure this is a fire lane," Jennell asks with a raised eyebrow.

Evelyn sighs and says exasperatingly, "I think we'll be fine. Besides, we won't be here long. I just have to get a few recommendations from a few teachers and I'll be done."

They enter the school and the two immediately feel out of place as they walk through crowds of high school-ers judging their every move. Jennell looks at all of them in amusement as Evenlyn keeps her head down, only thinking of where she has to be.

"Ahh, high school students. They're all losers, aren't they Evelyn?" Jennell laughs loudly, causing a large amount of said students to scowl at them. Evelyn quickly shoots a glare at Jennell. "Shut up, Jennell. We're not here to make ourselves look cool."

Ignoring her, Jennell says, "We're grads, Ev. We're cool by  _default_."

Rolling her eyes, Evelyn opens a door and enters a classroom, tugging an overly smug Jennell inside. A few students were already inside and getting ready. "Hi Mr. Powell," Evelyn greets happily, shaking his hand. Jennell looks around and scrunches her nose at the sight of the incoming students and posters of various poets.

"Evelyn, what are you doing here? You were a senior last year, remember?" Mr. Powell tries to joke. It was a lame joke at best, but out of courtesy, Evelyn laughed. "I was wondering if you could write me a recommendation? I don't have anything electronic to e-mail you with and I'm not that far from here so..."

Mr. Powell smiles and takes one of Evelyn's sheets in her hands. "Of course. Besides, you were my favorite senior last year. Is the only recommendation you need?"

She nods. "Mmhm. I just forgot I needed one more and fall semester starts soon," she says sheepishly.

Jennell tisks at her right as the bell rings. "Now now Evelyn, this is not how a prepared undergraduate should act."

The students, now all in class, snicker. Evelyn glares at Jennell. "You're such a pain sometimes."

She shrugs and smirks, taking a mouthful of cereal in her mouth. "Too bad, because you're my roommate."

 

*~*~*

 

The blowing of a whistle echos throughout the entire gym, and the horrid game of dodgeball begins. Red and rubbery balls fly back and forth, hitting its victims in the most painful places.

"Calum, grab one!" Luke shouts encouragingly from the sidelines. Yes, he's already out. In fact, he was the first one to get out.

Calum jumps up for a ball and it appears to have been caught, but it falls right out of his hands. The whistle screeches again. "You're out!" He sighs heavily and drags himself to the wall, sitting down next to Luke.

"This is stupid," Calum mumbles grumpily. "Why can't we go play football instead? I'm  _extremely_ uncoordinated with my hands."

Luke raises his eyebrows, thinking the opposite. "That's not what your bass guitar told me."

"You know what I mean, Hemmings."

Luke chuckles as Calum shakes his head at him. He reaches his hand up to tug at the teacher's shirt. "Mr. Vance, may I go to the bathroom?" Replying with a grumpy nod, Luke smiles brightly and dashes to where the bathrooms are. Calum rolls his eyes knowingly. He won't come out for a while.

Just as Luke exits, in walks Jackie Sizemore, the school's favorite cheerleader. She may not be cheer captain, but she's not annoying like the rest of them. In fact, she's actually not  _like_ them at all. But she is pretty and popular like them. 

She saunters through the court - not once getting hit or grazed by a ball - with a small slip in her hand. Calum looks up from trying to take a nap and recognizes the petite green-eyed blonde instantly. She's a frequent customer at the restaurant/diner he works at. He doesn't wait her, but he's seen her a lot.

"Hi Calum!" she greets merrily. Surprised by her niceness, he just blinks and barely nods in acknowledgement. Mr. Vance takes the slip and she saunters through the court again, exiting the gym just as Luke walks back in. 

"Anything I missed?" Luke asks as someone from their team catches a ball. Calum just shakes his head as Luke heads back into the court.

 

*~*~*

 

It's halfway through lunch at Greenwich and Evelyn and Jennell walk into the cafeteria, catching most of everyone's attention as they head towards the middle tables.

"What are we  _still_ doing here?" Jennell asks in irritation as they stride around tables.

"I need to talk to Jackie," Evelyn replies bluntly. Jennell scoffs. "Really? Her? Why?"

"Her father owns a warehouse that delivers most of the goods my dad's restaurant uses."

"Um, so?"

" _So_ ," Evelyn breathes tiredly, "I just have to ask Jackie if the goods are coming in soon because they were supposed to be arrive last night."

Jennell chuckles in disbelief. "You're trying to help your dad run a restaurant, turning in a recommendation letter late, and on top of all that, you've been studying early! When are you going to give yourself a break?"

Once again, Evelyn ignores her as she comes up to Jackie, who's trying to flirt with a sleazy looking jock. "Jackie, hi..."

Jackie turns around at the sound of Evelyn's voice and smiles. "Oh, hey Ev! What's up?" 

Evelyn, uncomfortable with the jock feeling up Jackie while Jackie doesn't care at all, says, "It's about that, um, order my dad made with the warehouse a few days ago... it should have arrived yesterday but it didn't."

Jackie nods. "Oh yeah. Daddy told me the truck that was delivering for you broke down and you should get your order by this evening."

"Thanks," Evelyn mutters as she and Jennell slowly back away from the group.

 

*~*~*

 

"Aren't you going to stay and watch me wait tables, Maria?" Calum jokes, leaning against the podium near the entrance of the restaurant. "Besides, you don't have any other ride besides the bus."

Maria rolls her eyes and leans her arm on Jackie's shoulder. "No. We're just here to order some food to go and we'll be out of your way."

Calum pouts. "You never like me." Maria chuckles and smiles. "And you never like me either."

"Order up for Ma _rrr_ ia!" Luke calls from the kitchen window, rolling the r's. Calum laughs as Maria rolls her eyes and Jackie giggles. "Since when were you two ever friends?" Calum asks, pointing at both Maria and Jackie as Luke comes up with the food in a plastic bag.

"Maria tried out for the cheer team and she got in, remember?" Jackie reminds him. Maria adds, "Yeah, she was like my first friend at cheer camp."

Calum nods. "Right, right. Ah, here's Lucas now."

Luke, blushing furiously when he realizes Jackie is there, almost drops the bag but manages to hold it out to Jackie. "Here you go."

Jackie and Maria look at each other with confused looks. "We didn't even order yet..." Maria starts to say.

"Yeah, but Jackie comes in here all the time and I don't know, I just somehow got her usual order memorized," Luke stumbles out, making sure to keep his head down as he talks. Maria smirks and takes the bag instead, looking between Luke and Jackie, though Jackie is completely oblivious.

"Thanks Luke," Maria says, taking Jackie's wrist and leading her out the door. Before they leave, Jackie makes sure to wave goodbye to Luke. He sees this and weakly waves back. When they're completely gone, Calum bursts out into laughter and ruffles Luke's hair. "You memorized her order? Are you  _that_ in love with her?" He giggles.

Luke only manages a small 'shut up' before he sluggishly makes his way to the back kitchen with Calum to pick up their trays.

 

*~*~*

 

"What did you want? A blueberry scone?" Jennell almost screams into her phone. The small static voice of Evelyn that comes through her phone isn't exactly clear enough to understand. It's probably because Evelyn has such a shitty phone. Jennell groans and cuts her off. "I'll ask the waiter what I should get for you. Bye." 

She pushes open a door to a fairly new cafe that opened up a month ago in the quiet corner of the city. Jennell was surprised by the amount of people - mostly girls - lining up for a drink and/or pastry.

The interior looked quite rustic and quaint, but she  _hated_ how much noise there was. She was about to walk out and find a new one when she noticed a small stage near the back of the cafe where a woman was singing freestyle jazz. Now interested, she takes a seat at a table not too far from the stage, but near the windows. She takes out her notebook and starts to scribble down lyrics.

Meanwhile, behind the counter is Michael and the new barista, Ashton. The girls had only started pouring in when Ashton started working. With the combination of Michael's loud and cheeky flirting and Ashton's infectious laugh and smile, this cafe was about to raise their profits sky high.

The flood of girls finally flocked away after receiving their coffee with a dimpled smile and a smirk, and Michael let out a relieved sigh. "Okay, I know I  _love_ girls, but I don't want to go through that again," he laughs tiredly. 

"I feel like a celebrity." Ashton grins and pretends to fluff his hair. "Do you think they'll come back?"

Michael scowls and fixes his apron. "I hope not. They were all, 'Michael, I love your hair!' and giggle giggle giggle. It was kind of annoying."

Ashton shrugs and elbows Michael's side. "Hey, go take that girl's order. She's been here for a while and hasn't gotten anything."

Michael groans lightly and turns to where Ashton was pointing. He starts to move towards her, but he slows down the more he looks at her. Her midnight blue hair shines against the sunlight and her face is adorably scrunched as she scribbles down something in her beat up journal. To top it all off, she practically shot him through the heart when he saw her Blink-182 shirt.

He looks back to Ashton and he's smirking at him and pretending to be Michael by clutching his heart and becoming weak in the knees. Michael sticks his tongue out at him and mouths, "Twat." He turns back around to find the girl looking at the both of them, but giggling at Ashton. Michael blushes and goes up to the girl, clearing his throat.

"Can I help you?" Michael asks properly, scolding himself mentally for not being suave.

She gives him a small grin that makes his heart skip a beat and replies, "Yeah. I'd like a latte, a chocolate muffin, and a..." she leans back in her chair and glances at the case of pastries, "my friend wants something to eat but I'm not sure what to get her. Any suggestions?"

To be honest, Michael had barely heard her order and just snapped out of his little daydream. He hoped she didn't notice him staring at her. "I, uh, um..."

"The blueberry scones are out of this world," Ashton calls out from the counter, already working on her latte, holding up an ok sign with his fingers. The girl nods. "I'll get that," she says to Michael.

He nods wordlessly and finds himself stumbling to the case of pastries. Snapping himself out of another daze, he looks at Ashton worriedly. "Wait, what did she want?"

Ashton chuckles as he hands him the finished latte. "A chocolate muffin and blueberry scone." He shakes his head as Michael gets the two treats and throws them in a small bag. "You've got it bad, man."

Michael furrows his eyebrows, shaking his head. "I'm just tired, that's all." As he goes back to the girl, Ashton mutters teasingly, "Far from that."

"Here you go," Michael says, placing the latte and bag of food in front of her. She looks up, gives him another killer smile, and says, "Thank you..." she squints at his name tag, "Michael."

Michael's heart stops again at the sound of her saying his name and his mouth goes dry all of a sudden. "Yeah, no problem." She nods, goes back to her writing, and Michael can't help but wonder about her. So he stands there ans stares at her like a lovestruck idiot. Ashton looks up from cleaning the counters and chuckles softly. Jennell hears this and is about to raise an eyebrow at Ashton, but instead she's raising an eyebrow at Michael.

"Can I help you?" She asks mockingly. Michael blinks a few times and starts to blush furiously. "Oh, shit, sorry. I just... oh God I'm such an idiot," he stumbles, covering his face with his hands.

Jennell laughs and pushes out the chair across from her with her foot. "Take a seat then, idiot."

Michael glances back at Ashton who's giving him two thumbs up of encouragement. After a few moments of awkward silence, Michael says, "You listen to Blink?" He points at her shirt.

Jennell looks up from her notebook then down at her shirt. "Just a little. Admittedly, I only have their most famous songs in my phone."

Michael nods and shrugs. "That's alright. It's cool you like them, though." She smiles and takes out her chocolate muffin. She takes off a small piece and offers it to him. "Want a bit?"

"Oh, no thanks, I'm good." He shakes his head and pushes it away from him. Jennell knits her eyebrows together and frowns. "C'mon, it's chocolate Michael! How can you not?"

He laughs and accepts it. "Okay." As they both nibble down on the muffin, he asks, "What's your name, by the way?"

"It's Jennell Goble," she responds with a chuckle. "My friends call me Gobble sometimes because I eat so much."

Michael nods and looks at the muffin and scone. "I can tell."

The two start talking the day away, mostly about Michael's band and Jennell trying to form a band, guitar playing, music, and things about each other. Somewhere in that time, Michael's shift had ended but he completely forgets. Also in that time, all of the customers have left and so has Ashton. 

"Oh, is it really dark out now?" Michael leans to the side and looks out the window. It's pouring rain and near pitch black dark outside. Jennell turns around and looks at the time on her phone. "Great. I missed the bus and Evelyn took the car." She groans and hides her face in her hands. Michael gets up and goes to the back room, taking off his apron, slipping on his hoodie and his bag, and taking out his umbrella from inside. He sees Jennell scrambling to get her stuff together when he comes back out.

"I'm so sorry I kept you. I have to go now," she says in a rush. She gets her jacket and bag on and stares out the window with a pout. "I hate everything."

Michael chuckles and shows her his umbrella. "Can I walk you home? I should be closing up anyways, so..."

Jennell smiles at him gratefully. "You need to stop helping me with things. One day I'm going to owe you too much."


	2. the one with introductions (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a filler chapter, basically. Sorry. :P
> 
> I'd appreciate it if you have a Wattpad, go vote, comment, and share this story over there as well. It's under the same username. :)

At the same time Jennell was getting walked home by Michael, Evelyn had left the apartment to get some dinner. She had just turned in her final recommendation letter and was free to relax - by studying.

Thanks to Jennell, it was impossible to study at home without turning on the TV or doing something other than studying. So even though the diner isn't exactly the perfect place to study, it's a lot less distracting than the apartment. Or so she thinks.

She opens the door and immediately crosses her arms, tucking her hands underneath them. She mutters a few sorry's as she maneuvers around tables, bumping the occasional standing person with her messenger bag. The crowd had begun to lessen as Evelyn got deeper in the diner and she ended up sitting at the end of the counter, hanging her bag off the back of the chair. She ran a hand through her hair as she started to read through her large textbook, waiting for a waiter to take her order.

That waiter happened to be Calum. He knew  _exactly_ who Evelyn Gray was, and not in a creepy way.

Her father runs and owns the diner, and her mother handles all the payments and orders. He's seen her around as much as he's seen Luke drool over Jackie, which is all the time. The thing is, Evelyn's never acknowledged him before. Calum has talked to her parents many times because he happened to be their favorite waiter, both in work ethic and when he serves them.

Mr. and Mrs. Gray talk about Evelyn a lot. She got accepted into the local University, a writing prodigy at the age of six, and ever since her passion and studies towards literature and writing went nowhere but up.

He may not be the smartest, but he knows how it feels to be so good at something and stopping at nothing to make it become a dream come true.

"Hey, isn't that the girl Mr. Gray always rambles on about to you?" Luke inquired, placing his free hand on Calum's shoulder.

"Yeah," Calum nods.

Luke nudges him gently. "Then go wait her." He smirks and adds, "Besides, I already told the rest of the staff about your crush and if you don't, we're going to hear from an angry diner owner tomorrow night."

Calum squints at Luke angrily and is about to say something to him, but the blonde has already left with his tray to hand out dishes. He groans and quickly looks at his reflection in a napkin dispenser before puffing up his chest and heading towards Evelyn. The closer he gets to her, the more familiar she becomes. Mrs. Gray had showed him a lot of pictures of her (including baby pictures), although he's not exactly sure why she did that.

"So you're the famous Evelyn that Mr. and Mrs. Gray praise endlessly about?" Evelyn's head shoots up, her sapphire eyes making Calum check out for a bit. She furrows her eyebrows and smiles in befuddlement. "My parents talk about me to the staff?"

Calum nods and leans his arms against the counter. "Actually, I'm not sure if they do so much with everyone as they do with me."

She raises her eyebrows and her eyes bubble in almost-recognition. "Wait... are you- is your name Calum?"

"Uh, yeah, I am. Why do you ask?"

Evelyn shakes her head and laughs softly. "My parents may have tried to convince me to hook up with you a few times. They don't  _ever_ stop talking about you."

He side-smiles in surprise pleasure. "Wow. That's cool." He sees her frown and he quickly adds dispassionately, "Not the, uh, hooking up part. That's not cool at all."

Calum can see her quickly become disinterested in the conversation (which dissappoints him immensely), turns around and says, "I'll just get you your usual."

Evelyn's head slowly comes back up from the textbook and her face is scrunched up in confusion. "How do you know my usual?"

Calum can feel the blood rushing all the way from his neck to his face and he mentally slaps himself in the face for being so stupid and Luke-like. "I..." he sighs shakily, "your parents made sure to make me memorize it. Plus, I kinda wanted to, so..."

Although still a little weirded out by his confession, she blurts out, "That's sweet."

Without facing her, he makes an expression that looks like he just scored a goal as he makes his way to the kitchen to give Evelyn's order to the chef. Luke comes in and places the tray down for more dishes to be added to it. He smirks at Calum again.

"You memorized her order? Are you  _that_ much in love with her?" Luke mocks, earning a hard frog on the arm.  
  


*~*~*  
  


A little later into the night, Maria was waiting at the bus stop where Jennell was going to be if it weren't for Michael offering his umbrella. The rain was pouring down harder than just minutes ago when it was only drizzling, and to make it worse, wind was added to the equation. She sat closer to the benches in the small undercover area and pulled her knees to her chest. She prayed that this bus wouldn't be late again.

Maria had planned to get a ride from one of Jackie's parents, but stupidly enough, she had insisted on walking to the bus stop since it 'wasn't that far' and she didn't want to be a hassle.

She loved Jackie, but listening to her talk about her life depressed her a bit. Jackie had almost her entire life planned out. She knew what she wanted to do until the age of 80, because she had hit a dead end on what she should do at that age. Meanwhile, Maria couldn't even get a simple idea what outfit she wanted to wear the next day.

Despite her terrible future planning skills, Maria  _dreamed_ about her future. The only thing she saw that was solid for her was music. She wasn't sure how music would be involved with her since she couldn't play an instrument if it could save her life, and she's only sung a handful of times.

She hoped she would figure it out soon.

The sound of shoes sloshing in puddles on the sidewalk brought Maria back to reality, and she turned her head to see a figure keeping his head down as he seemed to walk towards her bus stop. Her breath hitched.

 _If it's a pedophile, I_ ** _swear_** _I will rip his face into another dimension,_ Maria thought.

Instead, it was a man with wavy dirty blonde locks and glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. She looks on to him with a puzzled expression because  _why was he staring at her?_

"Do you need a ride?" The man asks. Maria's eyes widen and she shakes her head violently. The words 'stranger danger' pop into her head endlessly.

He chuckles. "Yeah, I forgot. 'Don't hitch rides with people you don't know'. I just... I  _swear_ I'm not going to do you any harm. You just looked miserable and my car's not far down."

She considers his offer, but the alarms ringing off in her head won't stop. "No thank you, I'll just wait for the bus."

He sighs and takes a seat next to her. "Alright."

Before she can introduce herself, the bus finally arrives. Maria looks between the bus and Ashton, and it's a shame because her warning bells were just starting to shut up.

"I guess I'll see you around," Maria says almost reluctantly. Ashton feels his heart drop a little, but ignores the feeling and gives her his wide trademark smile.

When the bus leaves, he wonders why he was daydreaming about her at a bus stop.  
  


*~*~*

 

Just as Maria hops on the bus, Jennell and Michael arrive at her apartment. It's a slightly run down area that Michael is quite familiar with, but not very fond of.

"You live here?" He asks out loud as they make their way up the stairs. 

"Yes. Is there a problem?" She replies defensively. 

"No, no, not at all," Michael says quickly. "I just... I used to live in this area and it wasn't a fun experience."

"I get it," she unlocks the door and turns to face Michael, "though it was the only apartment my roommate and I could afford." She takes off her shows and adds, "Thanks for walking me."

Michael nods. They stand their awkwardly before he says, "I better go now. I didn't realize how far away I live from here."

"Oh, gosh I'm sorry," Jennell apologizes. "I didn't realize-"

He cuts her off. "It's fine. See you around?"

The corner of her lips lifts up into a smile. "Yeah. I'll see you." She closes the door shut and Michael's staring at it with a dumb grin on his face, shaking his head in disbelief.

Before he even starts to leave, the door opens a bit and Jennell meekly says, "Oh, and goodnight."

Michael turns his head, the grin still plastered on his face. "Goodnight, Jennell."

 

*~*~*

 

Just as Calum got Evelyn's order out the door, the diner was half full. He placed the plate down in front of Evelyn; a bacon cheeseburger, a side of fries, and a strawberry milkshake. Since it was already the end of his shift, he had requested a plate of his own and sat down with it next to her.

"I thought workers aren't allowed to eat on the job?" It was more of a statement rather than a statement. She raised an eyebrow at him. He mocks her expression.

"My shift just ended," Calum counters, taking a large bite into his burger. Evelyn rolls her eyes, but she closes her textbook and takes a bite out of her burger too. She stuffs a few fries in her mouth as well and at the same time she takes a long sip from her milkshake. She turns to face Calum when she sees that he's chuckling in amusement at her.

"Sorry, you just... the way you pig out is so cute," he giggles. Out of embarrassment, she blushes and wipes her mouth with a napkin. "Shut up."

To his and her surprise, Evelyn closes her textbook, shoves it in her messenger bag, and gives Calum 100% of her focus. "Since you seem to take a lot of interest in me-"

"I don't. I mean, if you don't want me to, then I won't," Calum stutters out swiftly, wondering seconds later why he's saying such stupid things.

Evelyn smiles, enjoying the power she has on the young waiter. "I want you to."

"Really?" He asks hopefully. She nods. "Tell me about yourself, Calum."


	3. the one with the football game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't mind the chapter titles; i'm not going to get very creative with them (they're 'friends' inspired btw)
> 
> pls check this story out on wattpad and support if u can! :D

Jennell is usually polite and sweet to people she barely knows. To her closest friends, she's sarcastically mean and weird.

To get to the point, she's practically dragging Evelyn by the ponytail to one of Greenwich's fall football games.

"Why are we here? I have studying to do!" Evelyn screeches, her trusty textbook held in her crossed arms.

"Your cheerleader friend Jackie invited us here and you said you would come," Jennell reminds her. "And I thought  _I_ was the forgetful one here."

Evelyn tugs at her ponytail, causing Jennell to pull it even harder. "Ow! You know that 80% of the time I don't keep my promises."

"That's why I'm trying to break that stupid little habit of yours," Jennell sneers. "Besides, there's so much more to life than  _just_ studying, Ev. Your writing career isn't the only thing you should have going for you. Live life a little."

"I am," Evelyn insists. They find a seat in the bleachers near where the a few of the cheerleaders are. Jennell lets go of Evelyn's ponytail and takes a drink out of her cup of hot chocolate.

"And how are you living life exactly?"

She takes a bite out of a protein bar she picked up from the apartment and shrugs. "Well, I talked to this guy-"

"Evelyn, if it's a teacher, I don't want to-"

"It's not," Evelyn scoffs in offense. "By the way-"

Jennell cuts her off again. "You don't even have to finish that sentence, because  _yes_ , the only guys you've talked to lately are teachers and professors."

Evelyn rolls her eyes. "Okay, well, it wasn't a teacher. It was an actual guy."

This catches Jennell's interest and she slowly starts to smile at Evelyn with a small proud look in her eyes. "Really?"

She nods. "Really."

Jennell bounces up and down on her seat and asks, "What's his name? What's he do? Is he cute?"

Evelyn holds a hand up for her to calm down. "His name's Calum, he works at the diner my parents run, and... he's alright."

"Alright? As in 'he's doing fine from last time I talked to him' or 'he's not of my interest', 'alright'?" Jennell asks with a furrow of her eyebrows.

"The latter," Evelyn responds, although Jennell can see one corner of her lips twitch into a smile.

She giggles. "That's a lie."

In overexaggerated shock, Evelyn says, "I'm telling the truth!" She sighs heavily and adds, "He's a sweet guy, but he's a high-school senior working part-time and I don't want to get in his way of school or him getting in mine."

Jennell leans an elbow on her leg and shakes her head, placing it on her open hand. "You say that about every potential boyfriend. So what? Take the risk, honey!"

"He's  _not_ a potential boyfriend." She scowls. "And don't call me 'honey'."

Jennell pokes her cheek teasingly. "Your eyes tell me a different story."

Evelyn blushes slightly. "I will add that he does happen to have a crush on me. It's kinda fun playing around with his heart."

"And soon the tables will turn, I just know it," Jennell smirks.

Meanwhile, just a few bleachers down were Michael, Ashton, and Luke by the sidelines. Michael's holding a lot of food in his hands and currently, he's chowing down on a hot dog. "Why are we here? I was told we were going to play some COD," Michael mumbled, stuffing another bite into his mouth.

"Yeah, well, I lied," Ashton chuckled. "Luke here needed me to be here with him today."

"What, to watch him not play the entire game?" Michael snickered, earning a glare from the blonde.

Luke sighs and frogs Michael on the shoulder. "I'd appreciate it if you would shut up. That's not the only reason you're here." He leans forward to look at Ashton. "Why'd you being him? You know I don't like him."

"I'm right here," Michael says, spitting hot dog bits in Luke's face. His face blank, he wipes the food off his face.

"I just thought Mikey would like some time to engage in the outside world," Ashton smirks, ruffling Michael's hair. He snarls at him. "What's the other reason you wanted me here?"

Luke grabs both of their eye contact, and then leads their gazes to where the cheerleaders are. In the midst of all of them is Jackie.

While Luke and Michael are looking at Jackie, Ashton's eyes widen when he sees a familiar figure. It was the girl he met at the bus stop that rainy night. He shakes his head in disbelief. He can't believe the fluttering in his heart. Hadn't he gotten over her already? Why did he even like her in the first place?

"...so, should I go talk to her?"

The two boys turn to Ashton to find him with his jaw slack as he stares off at the crowd of cheerleaders.

"Ash?" Michael waves a hand in Ashton's face, startling the boy back to reality. "W-what? Sorry..."

As Michael smirks at him, Luke repeats himself with a roll of his eyes. "The blonde cheerleader over there, Jackie, should I go chat her up?"

Michael snorts as he sips on his soda and shakes his head. Ashton giggles at this and replies, "Go for it. You never know what could happen."

"No one says 'chat her up' anymore," Michael chortles in the background.

Ashton smacks Michael on the shoulder scoldingly as Luke gets up from his seat. He's trying to saunter (although he's doing it rather awkwardly) towards her, but before he can even get within a ten foot radius of her, someone gives him a huge side-hug.

"Luke-y! I didn't think my little baby cousin would come to his own game today," the person teases, ruffling his hair. Luke scowls at her and tries to fix his quiff. "Evelyn, I don't need this right now."

Evelyn just smiles mischieviously with Jennell just descending the stairs, munching on a bag of caramel popcorn. "Who's this?" she asks.

Luke looks to the unfamiliar person next to his cousin and raises his eyebrows in surprise.

"This is Jennell. I thought you knew...?"

He nods. "Yeah, I do. I just... I just wanted to make sure you knew."

Evelyn stares at him with an extremely puzzled expression.

Jennell cuts in and sticks her hand out for him to shake. Luke is even more taken aback when he sees the few tattoos on both of her arms, but he shakes her hand anyhow.

"Nice to meet you," she smirks. She follows his gaze and notices he's looking/admiring her tiny Iron Man tattoo near the middle of her arm. "Like it?"

Luke nods unconsciously. "It's cool..." He shakes his head and frowns at the two. "Look, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have a girl to go talk to-"

Evelyn squeals and grins excitedly. "Ooh, Luke has a crush?!" She puts a hand to her forehead and pretends to look around. "Who's the lucky lady?

Luke starts to blush hotly which causes the two girls to make teasing noises. "It's Jackie..."

Jennell and Evelyn look at each other with knowing glances before turning back to Luke. "We'll go talk to her for you first," Evelyn states. Luke stammers in protest, but the two are already making their way to Jackie, who's in the middle of the crowd telling a seemingly hilarious story.

"Jennell! Evelyn! You came!" The cheerleader shrieks, capturing the girls in a tight hug. "How'd you like my performance during half time?"

Evelyn smiles genuinely and gives her a thumbs up. "I'd give it five stars." Jennell muffles her laughter by turning her head to look away. At the same time, Michael and Ashton are gazing up to see if Luke's gotten lucky with Jackie when the two hair-dyed teenagers lock eyes.

"Holy shit," Michael says breathlessly. He feels himself lift a hand and wave at her weakly. Jennell's small smile gradually grows wider and she waves back before Evelyn turns her back around to talk to Jackie.

Ashton smirks at him. "Looks like I'm not the only one with a girl in sight at this football game."

It was Michael's turn to smirk and Ashton's to blush bashfully. "What was that, mate?"

"N-nothing." Ashton shakes his head and pushes Michael's head away from him.

"Who's the beautiful girl that captured your picky heart?" Michael chuckles, scouting out the entire school population. His question is answered when he sees Ashton gazing at one of the cheerleaders. This one in particular is off to the side, not really making an effort to talk to anyone. And this one is awfully familiar to him...

"Oh my God, you like Calum's sister!" Michael guffaws and slaps his knee. "If he ever finds out, you're going to get your ass kicked!"

"Wait, what? Who's Calum?" Ashton asked half-curious and half-terrified.

"He's a friend of mine who's a senior here. That girl you're staring at, that's Maria Hood. She's a junior." Michael looks at him in amusement. "How'd she win you over? Did she force you to like you or something, because that seems like such a Maria thing to do."

Ashton shakes his head. "I saw her on the way to my car a few weeks ago."

"And...?"

He shrugs. "That's it. I saw her and that was it for me."

Michael coos and pinches Ashton's cheek. "Love at first sight; how romantic!" He giggles. "How scandalous. Calum's never going to let a college dude date his little sister."

Ashton frowns and Michael pats his back comfortingly. "Eh, it's alright. Maybe he'll make an exception."

 

*~*~*

 

"So, what did she say?" Luke bounced up and down on his toes in excitement as Evelyn and Jennell appeared from within the cheer team crowd.

Evelyn smiles at him. "Well, she's certainly your type."

Luke grins and blushes lightly. "And?"

"Just go talk to her, she's all yours," Jennell laughs, pushing Luke into the the group of girls, where he eventually bumps into Jackie.

"Oh, hi Luke!" Jackie greets cheerfully, catching Luke by placing her hands on his upper back. He stutters incoherent noises and brushes himself off, giving her a shy smile. "Hey Jackie," he tries to reply nonchalantly.

The girls surrounding them all giggle knowingly and back away from them, leaving the two to be alone.

"Are you enjoying the game so far?" She asks.

Luke shrugs, pretending to look cool by looking anywhere but her. "Yeah, it's chill."

Jackie smirks. "I can tell. You haven't been called out to play the field since the season started."

Luke's cool demeanor deflates and he slumps his shoulders, giving her a defeated look. "I know. I'm not as good as a player as I think I am."

"Aw, don't say that." She places a hand on his shoulder. He stares at it with wide eyes. "At least you're not the water boy."

He chortles softly and side-smiles. "I probably will be soon, seeing as I haven't been called out to play ever since sophomore year."

The pair laugh and continue to talk endlessly, no one bothering to interject.

"They're so adorable," Evelyn comments. The two friends are already back at their seats and Jennell is nodding in agreement, distracted by the popcorn in her hand.

"Luke may never gotten off the bench, but he certainly  _scored_  tonight," Ashton jokes, laughing at his own joke. Michael shakes his head, distracted by the sight of Jennell a few bleachers back.

 

*~*~*

 

As people are exiting the stadium after a grueling loss, Michael, Ashton, and Luke are leaning against the fence near the parking lot. Michael is still finishing the last of his soda, Luke is watching the cheerleaders enter the bathroom, and Ashton is anxiously scouting out for Maria.

"Why are we waiting for her?" Michael asks as he throws away his soda.

"Because what if I never see her again?" Ashton answers. Despite him being taller than most, he stands up on his tip-toes.

He chuckles. "You're a hopeless romantic."

Ashton shoves Michael good-naturedly. "Whatever."

He was ready to accept his defeat when he spots a blur of long black hair out of the corner of his eye, causing him to lose his cool.

"There she is!" He shakes his head. "Taking the bus, per usual."

"Maybe we should give her a ride," Michael suggests. Ashton nods to this idea and strides towards the petite cheerleader, still in her uniform unlike the other ones in the bathroom.

"But I have to wait for Jackie!" Luke whines as Michael drags him by the hood. Michael rolls his eyes. "She doesn't even know you were waiting for her, you creep!"

"Maria!" Michael calls out, causing Maria to turn around and wave at him. Her expression turns surprised when she sees that Ashton is with him.

"Hey guys, what's up?" She pockets her phone and leans agains the bus sign post. Michael looks at Ashton expectantly.

"We were wondering if you needed a ride." He looks to Michael. "You can't really turn me down now, seeing as you two know each other."

Maria chuckles in embarrassment. "I guess not. I'm sorry; I didn't know you and Michael knew each other."

Ashton shakes his head and gives her an understanding smile. "No, it's alright."

"Will you two quit gazing all starry-eyed? Luke's near crying because-"

"I didn't get to talk to Jackie!" Luke bursts into tears. Michael rolls his eyes and grabs Luke by the hood again, leading him to where the car is.

Ashton and Maria laugh at this scene, their chuckles soon dying into a comfortable silence. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and makes a little hole with his arm for Maria to hook her hand in. She does just that as they follow a sobbing Luke and irritated Michael.


	4. the one with 'first dates' (part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of my imagination of are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
> 
> again, pls go check this out on wattpad! it's under the same username :)

Once again, Evelyn has her nose stuck in the many notes she has. Papers are strewn all over the kitchen counter with the occasional sticky note and notebook. Prominent above all is her textbook that she constantly looks back at while she types furiously on her new laptop.

A slam of the door snaps her out of her thoughts and she looks up to see Jennell twirling her lanyard around her finger with two petite girls in tow.

"What's going on?" Evelyn asks in confusion. She may have a lot going on her her school life, but she always made sure she had a social life every other day. Today wasn't one of those days.

Jennell holds her hands out dramatically. "Meet our new friends!"

Evelyn scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Jennell, Jackie and... whoever the other girl is, aren't our friends."

"Ah, but they  _will_ be," Jennell counters, her optimism never backing down. "I was talking to them at the game last night and they happen to know this Calum fellow you have a slight interest in."

The girl associated with Jackie raises her hand shyly and says, "I'm Calum's sister, Maria."

Jackie squeals excitedly out of nowhere and grabs Evelyn's arm with enthusiasm. "Evie, this is  _awesome_! Now you won't have to look so sad being all by yourself everywhere you go; now you can have a boyfriend at your side!"

"I have Jennell," Evelyn argues. "And don't call me 'Evie'."

" _Sometimes_ ," Jackie retorts, ignoring her protests.

Evelyn stares at all of them in ridicule and scoffs, running a hand through her hair. "Seriously, why are you all so determined to get me a boyfriend? Just because I want to focus on  _me_ doesn't mean I'm prying for someone to share the limelight with me. What if I don't want that?"

Jackie, offended, backs off and sticks her tongue out at the brunette. She rolls her eyes in response. Jennell gazes at her with sympathy and places a hand on her shoulder. "Look, I get that, but you've been saying that since middle school, Ev. We're not saying you should half-ass your studies for a guy. You should find a guy that will respect your interests in studies and back off when need be. You never give up anything without a fight, and I'm not either."

After a brief pause in the conversation, Evelyn sighs and pushes Jennell away from her. "I think I'm fine on my own, thank you."

Despite the determined tone in her voice, Jennell can spot the hesitation in Evelyn's movements. She would usually look her straight in the eye, making sure Jennell wouldn't bother her ever again. This time, her gaze was on the floor and she made sure to keep her eyes shut as if she were trying to hold back tears.

"This may sound desperate, but if you won't pursue my brother, will you at least distract him for the time being?" Maria asks tentatively.

Evelyn, puzzled, furrows her eyebrows together and looks back up from her notes. "Why?"

Maria lets out a shaky breath before continuing. "I met a guy last night and we clicked so well when he drove me home from the game. It's just... I know Calum would never let me see him because he's a college guy."

Jackie, Evelyn, and Jennell's eyes all widen. "Nice!" Jackie holds up her hand for Maria to hi-five, which she does bashfully.

"I'm impressed, kid," Jennell nods with a smirk.

"Do I know him?" Evelyn asks in curiousity.

Maria shrugs. "His name's Ashton... he's a freshman like you two."

Jennell's jaw drops slightly. "Does he work at a cafe at the edge of town?"

"Uh... yeah, he does. Do you know him?"

At the same time, Evelyn and Jennell say, "Never met the guy," and "Yeah!".

"Wait, how come you know him but I don't?" Evelyn asks Jennell.

"I go outside more," Jennell teases. To Maria, she says, "From what I remember, he's kind of a flirt with everyone, so I would be careful if I were you."

Evelyn nods in agreement. "Not all college guys are as sweet as you think."

"I know, I know. Calum's just super protective and it would make my life easier if you could keep him distracted for a bit."

After a long moment of silence, Evelyn sighs heavily. "How long are we talking?" Jackie and Jennell pump their fist in the air at Evelyn's consideration.

"I don't know... long enough until Calum'll soften up?" Maria guesses with a sheepish smile.

Evelyn rolls her eyes and starts to pack up all her things in her messenger bag. "I'll give it some thought. In the meantime, I'm gonna go study somewhere else."

"But we just got here!" Jackie whines.

"Don't you want to talk about cute waiter boy Calum?" Jennell teases.

"Ew." Maria sticks her tongue out in disgust.

 

*~*~*

 

She didn't mean to, but Evelyn found herself in the diner again. She wasn't sure why she was attracted to the place, but half of the reason was that her father owned the place, so it was inevitible that she would always be there.

It was a slow Friday night and the diner wasn't busy for some odd reason. It seemed like a lot of the staff had left early and those that remained was the chef back in the kitchen and a bored looking waiter cleaning tables. That said waiter happened to be the one person she wanted to see the most - and the least.

"Evelyn, hey." Calum waves at her. She knows he's trying to be as chill as possible. Poor kid.

Acknowleding him, she slides into her usual chair near the back, but she doesn't take out her textbook. Instead, she's waving Calum over begrudgingly. He comes up to her eagerly.

"What can I get you?" He asks uniformly. 

"I'm going to be straight forward with you. Your sister came over to my apartment not too long ago," Evelyn started. Calum raises his eyebrows in befuddlement, but she keeps going to avoid him cutting her off. "She met this guy name Ashton, a college freshman. She asked me to keep you 'busy' while she tries to develop a relationship with him."

At this point, Calum looks like he's about to burst and possibly punch or break something. Evelyn places a comforting hand on his, helping him calm down (a lot). "Look, I know how you feel. I may not have a sibling, but Luke - who I know is your best friend or something - is like a little brother to me."

Calum furrows his eyebrows. "Does that make me your little brother too? Because I don't like the sound of that."

Evelyn chuckles and shakes her head. "So far, you don't annoy me like Luke does. Plus, you're the only person I've been able to make good conversation with besides my friend Jennell."

"Really?" Calum asks all too hopefully for his taste. "Wait, this isn't about me, this is about Maria." He groans and fists his hair in his hands, leaning his elbows on the counter. "No matter what I do, she never listens to me, let alone consider my advice." He looks up at Evelyn, and she's surprised by the distress in his expression. "I'm not crazy for thinking she shouldn't do this, am I?"

She chuckles softly and smiles. "No. In fact, I was the only one that wasn't fully supportive of her."

"Glad to know someone's on my side." Calum smiles thankfully at Evelyn.

"But," she cuts in, "at the same time, I think she should go for it."

He stares at her in shock, his jaw dropping slightly. "What? Why?"

Evelyn shrugs. "What if you're getting in the way of a perfectly good thing? What if they were supposed to be together? If we interfere, we ruin their lives forever?"

"That sounds a bit sappy, especially for you," Calum scoffs.

She reaches into her bag and takes out  _Romeo and Juliet_. "We've started reading this in my Literature course. In fact, we'll be reading Shakespeare the entire semester, so don't judge me if I tend to act like a hopeless romantic at times."

He raises an eyebrow and smirks. "Does this mean I'll see more of you?"

She returns the smirk and leans closer to him. "Actually, yes. If you promise to not interfere with Maria and Ashton's budding relationship, you will  _absolutely_ be seeing more of me."

Calum tilts his head up, the smirk (looking brighter than before) plastered on his face. "I see your proposition, and raise you a date. Tonight."

Taken aback by the bold move, Evelyn hangs her head and smiles, blushing. This wasn't what she planned; feeling comfortable with the young waiter and his pleasing personality, but it helped if she was going to do this for a (practically) stranger's sake. Besides, like Jennell said, she needed to live life a little.

"You have a deal."

*~*~*

"I'm gonna head to the diner to take a peek at Evie and Calum. Get a caramel iced mocha for me, will you?" Without waiting for any of the dark-haired girls' answer, Jackie bounces off, flipping her hair airily.

Jennell shakes her head. "Why are you friends with her?"

"She was the only one I liked out of all the cheerleaders," Maria replied with a shrug. She looks up at the sign above them. "So he works here?"

Jennell smirks and nods, opening the door for her. "Your prince awaits."

Maria rolls her eyes, but she self-consciously wraps her arms around her body as they enter the small cafe. Unlike the diner, the cafe was buzzing with people; mostly girls. A cute looking boy was sitting on a stool on the stage, which was probably why most of these girls were here tonight. To Jennell's surprise, he was raunchily singing Amy Winehouse songs with a style she's never heard before. 

No one was in line, but Maria made no move to get any deeper into the cafe. Jennell snickers and pats her shoulder, striding past her and tapping her finger on the bell. Ashton emerges from the back, just finishing tying his apron on. He smiles in acknowledgement, clearly remembering the girl Michael hasn't stopped talking about for the past few weeks. "Hey, what can I-" Momentarily, he sees Maria in the background and it causes him to choke on his own spit. Jennell raises an eyebrow at him knowingly. 

"-get you," Ashton finishes. He collects himself and listens to Jennell's order, nodding at the right moments. "I'll get that for you in a moment. Just take a seat wherever."

Ashton heads to the coffee machines and Jennell follows after paying him, leaning against the counter where orders are picked up. "Are you seeing anyone Ashton?"

Flustered and blushing madly, Ashton shakes his head.

Jennell enjoys messing with the unusually bashful Ashton, so she pushes on. "What's your type? There was this girl in my Songwriting course that looked like someone I think you should meet. She-"

Ashton rolls his eyes. This girl likes to tease just like Michael. "Look, if this is about Maria, then-"

Jennell smiles, obviously pleased with being able to rile him up. "It is. She's here to take you away."

She turns around and smiles mischievously at a wide-eyed Maria. "Wait, I never said-"

"Michael!" Ashton calls, just finishing the round of coffees and a frappucino that the girls ordered. He whips off his apron and throws it at Michael's face just as he was emerging from the back room. "Oof!"

Maria and Jennell giggle as Ashton circles the counter and slings an arm around Maria. "Cover for me, will you?" And then they exit the cafe without an explanation. Michael takes off the apron and jumps at the sight of Jennell. "H-hey! It's you."

"It's me." Jennell laughs, taking a sip from her drink. She looks around and her eyes land on the boy on stage again. "Is it Jazz night?"

Michael throws the apron aside and starts wiping the counters. "Yeah. Fridays are our open mic nights." He shrugs nonchalantly. "I go up there sometimes if I feel like it."

Jennell smiles in interest and sits on the counter. "What do you sing?"

He blushes and keeps his head down to avoid looking like a blushing idiot. "Some covers, some originals..."

"You write?!" Jennell asks ecstatically, causing Michael to jump again. "Yeah... I'm in a band, remember?"

She sticks her tongue out at him. "Don't remind me."

He chuckles and juts his bottom lip out. "Does Jennell not have the band she wanted yet?"

Playing along, she crosses her arms and starts to pout. "No."

Their oblivious flirting causes a few heads to turn their way - mainly the girls - and look on with annoyance, but are obviously jealous that the cute waiter no longer has his attention on the 'more attractive' girls that were in there for only one reason. Some start to file out.

Michael doesn't recgonize this until the boy on stage has finished his set and the remaining customers clapped and cheered for him. Although, Jennell has noticed this already.

"First I keep you past your shift, now I've caused the main demographic of your customers to leave," Jennell states, giving Michael an apologetic smile. He waves his hand dissmissvely. "It doesn't matter. I couldn't give two shits, anyway."

As Michael goes to clean up the tables and put up the chairs, Jennell catches the Jazz-singing boy before he exits the cafe.

"Hi!" She greets nicely. "I'm Jennell." She sticks her hand out and he shakes it.

"What's up?"

"I noticed you have an  _incredible_ voice and I was wondering if you wanted to work together sometime. I'm trying to start a band," Jennell explains. Going to her Contacts on her phone, she hands it to the boy and he happily accepts it, typing in his number and name.

"Thanks... Christian." He winks at her and before he goes out the door, he smirks, "See you in class tomorrow."

Leaving her speechless, she looks down at the number in her phone and squeals in excitement. 

"Michael!" Jennell sings loudly. "Guess what?"

"You got an adorable boy's number and can't wait to go on a date with him?" Michael jokes in a girlish voice. Jennell rolls her eyes. "I found a potential band member."

"Ah, Mr. Amy Winehouse. Nice." Michael gives her a celebratory hi-five and whips out another frappucino for her. Jennell grins widely and reaches out for it with grabby hands.

"Hold on, hold on!" Michael giggles. "I have to call out the name first."

She rolls her eyes and leans the entire upper half of her body on the counter. "I didn't know you were a sycophant for the rules."

He shushes her and calls out, "Hazelnut frappucino for the beautiful girl in the Busted t-shirt!"

For a few seconds, she was completely oblivious to the compliment and snatches the frappucino from his hand. "You didn't have to-"

And then she realizes and stops mid sentence, staring up into Michael's mischievous eyes with a dumbstruck expression.

"Oh," Jennell breathes out, "uh, thanks."

He only smirks in response and opens the pastry case, placing a few slices of cheesecake onto a small plate. "C'mon, let's eat. You must've had a long day."

 

*~*~*

 

Jackie arrives at the diner and peeks through the window, smiling at the sight of Evelyn guffawing at a ketchup-stained Calum. 

"Aren't they cute?" 

She turns around and is about to judo-kick whoever is behind her, but her heart slows down when she sees that it's only Luke. 

"Yeah," Jackie agrees. "I never thought the school's star football player would look so perfect with such a nerd." Luke rolls his eyes and snorts at this.

Ignoring him, she asks, "What're you doing here, anyway?"

He shrugs. "I could say the same to you."

"Touche." Jackie stuffs her hands in her coat pockets. "I was just making sure Evie was with Calum."

Luke raises an eyebrow in interest. "Huh. I was doing the same thing, but with Calum."

"Why?" She questions in confusion.

"He called me all freaked out, saying that he was making burgers for Evelyn. I had to see if it was true," Luke laughs, causing Jackie to giggle. She looks back and forth from Luke to the diner and suddenly says, "Do you want to get out of here? Grab something to eat?"

Luke raises his eyebrows in surprise and replies, "Us? Just the two of us? You and me?"

She rolls her eyes. "You don't answer a question with a question, silly. And yes, just us." 

With that, Jackie grabs Luke's wrist and drags him down the street, away from the diner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you'll see how jackie and luke get along in the next chapter. things will get interesting, i promise :D


	5. the one with 'first dates' (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of my imagination of are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
> 
> i'm going to try and do all the couples for separate chapters soon hopefully :)

The pair of blondes walk into a small and dark Thai restaurant. As Luke gazes around at the odd decor, Jackie walks up to the counter to order take-out. She sits down in one of the chairs near the door and flips through a magazine. Luke looks down at her. "Are we not eating here?" Jackie looks up and raises an eyebrow. "Why would we?"

He shrugs and replies, "I just thought it would be a good idea. Besides, it looks like it's starting to drizzle out there."

Jackie looks up from her magazine and sighs heavily at the sight of small raindrops falling from the sky. "Great. The one day I forget to bring a jacket."

"We can wait out the rain in here." Taking another look out the window, Jackie reluctantly sets down her magazine and follows Luke to a table in the middle of the restaurant. He gallantly scoots out a chair for her, to which she doesn't acknowledge. Jackie sighs dramatically and leans her chin on an open palm. "I was hoping to go home and change into something more comfortable while I pig out, but I guess this'll do." She simpers. "I'm sorry for what you're about to see. I don't do well eating out in public."

Luke chuckles and shakes his head. "Don't worry about it, I look like a 2-year-old when I eat."

Both of their eyes widen when the plastic bag of food arrives at their table. While Luke is staring hungrily at the bag, Jackie is gawking dreamily at the waiter placing the bag down. "Felix! Hi!" She greets over-enthusiastically, abruptly fixing her posture and tilting her head upwards.

Felix, strawberry blonde and blue-eyed with a chiseled face, nods in affirmation. "Hi. Can I hep you with anything?" He asks politely. Before Luke can even open the bag, he glances back at Jackie and is puzzled as to why she's staring at the waiter. He turns to him and recognizes him as captain of the football team. "Oh, hey Felix." The waiter smiles at him and holds his hand out to shake Luke's. "Hey bud. What's going on?"

Jackie's eyebrows quirk up at the sudden friendly gesture between the two boys and looks on in interest. "Nothing. I'm just hungry," Luke laughs. "Is it alright if we eat our take out here?"

Felix smiles again. "Yeah, of course man. Just call me over if you need anything." Luke salutes him as he strides to the kitchen. Jackie's grins toothily and leans her chin on her two fists. As Luke digs into his Pad Thai, struggling with the chopsticks, he peeks up to see Jackie staring at him. "What?"

"You and Felix, that's what! How do you know him?" Jackie squeals. He chuckles at the cute sound she makes and responds, "He's the football team's captain. We're also both center forwards and he's been teaching me how to get better." After another few bites, he notices Jackie is still beaming at him. "What now, Jackie?"

She sighs and says, "So you're friends with him, right?" Luke bobs his head side to side in consideration, sticking his bottom lip out and shrugging slightly. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Jackie claps her hands together and cracks an utterly broad grin. "That's perfect!"

Luke jumps in his seat, mid-bite into his Pad Thai. "What's perfect?"

She leans forward and smirks, her fingers tapping against the wooden table. "How do you feel about setting me up with Felix?"

Luke almost drops his chopsticks at this statement. He coughs and balls his hands into tight fists, then he lifts one to the nape of his neck and strokes it lightly. "I- I... I dunno," he stutters. He knits his eyebrows together and bites his lip, stealing a glance at the perky blonde. She doesn't seem to notice Luke's sudden disappointment.

He exhales deeply and grits his teeth together. Squeezing his eyes shut for a brief moment, he opens them up feeling them water up just a bit. Jackie smiles at him hopefully. "Pwease?" She begs as she bats her eyelashes. Luke scoffs and shakes his head, not believing the words he's about to force out of his mouth.

"I'll see what I can do," Luke replies reluctantly. The words are bitter and he has to take another few bites to get rid of the taste. It doesn't seem to go away.

Jackie squeaks in joy and hops out of her chair to give Luke a huge hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best friend ever!" Luke doesn't make any move to wrap his arms around her, no matter how badly he wants to. He just smiles with tight lips and says, "Right.  _Friend_."

 

*~*~*

 

"I would offer you a ride, but the only thing I have for you to ride is a bike." He smiles sheepishly. "I also don't have a helmet. You don't mind, do you? Because we can just-"

Maria chuckles and places a hand on his shoulder, causing him to stop. "It's alright. I don't mind at all." Ashton smiles and hops on the seat of the bike. Maria props her feet on the two pipes attached to the back wheel and grips onto his shoulders tightly.

As Ashton pedals off, he calls out behind him, "Any idea where we should be headed?"

A short moment later, Maria feels tiny raindrops falling on their backs. She squeals and wraps her arms around Ashton's neck loosely. He guffaws and picks up the speed. "Nevermind, I know where we should go."

Not too long after, the raindrops are heavier and quickly drench the pair. Maria drags a hand across her face and groans when she sees her mascara on her fingers. "You're not going to like what I look like once you find somwehere for us to stop," Maria giggles. Ashton tries to supress a smile as he replies, "I doubt you'll look any worse than how I look in my old Myspace photos."

Ashton starts to peddle down a more abandoned road where there were nothing but trees on either side of them. Maria examines around them with an open mouth. "Where are we?"

The bike skids to a stop and Ashton leans the bike against a tree before interlocking his fingers with Maria's and leads her deep into the forest. "You'll see."

Maria had never liked autumn because of one thing: rain. She hated the awful weather, but she loved the cute outfits that she could wear in spite. 'What she loved the most was the beauty of nature. Around her, trees were stripped of their leaves and the ones remaining were a beautiful shade of orange, yellow, and red. The ones of the ground were combined with the now mushy ground. She frowned. It was going to take a long time to get these mud stains out of her light brown suade boots.

"Look up, Maria."

She did as she was told and made an opened-mouthed smile at the sight of a cute little treehouse with odd symbols painted on it. A noticeable one was the first three letters of Ashton's name spelled out with duck tape. She felt Ashton squeeze her hand. "Do you like it?"

Maria sighs happily and nods, following Ashton up the rope ladder.

Eventually, Maria and Ashton are cuddled up in the treehouse. The rain continues to pour down and creates a nice sound against the metal roof. Ashton crawls around, finding a treasure chest in the corner and opens it. He smiles.

"I built this treehouse with my dad before he left. Although I have no intention of ever finding him, I always find myself riding my bike here." He takes out a large quilt and crosses back to Maria, throwing it over the both of them. He slips his arm around Maria's shivering body and rubs his hand up and down her arm. "Sorry, I don't have any towels."

Maria snuggles into his embrace and rests her chin on his shoulder. She looks up at him. Ashton's gazing distractedly out one of the treehouse windows, but most of his focus goes into making her warm. "It's alright."

"I'm sorry about your dad. That sucks," she adds. Ashton chuckles darkly and forms his lips into a tight-lipped smile. "It doens't matter now." He gazes down at her and adds, "What matters are the ones who are here with me now; meaning you." Maria blushes and shifts uncomfortably. Her clothes were still drenched and with every second, they became colder.

Ashton's hold on her tightens as he tries everything he can to warm her up, but she can feel him shivering just as much. "Um, can I ask you a quick question?" Ashton says, trying to distract himself from how freezing he was.

"Shoot."

"Your brother, Calum. He's not going to kill me, is he?"

Maria giggles and replies, "Honestly, I hope not. But, don't worry, I think I've got it under control."

 

*~*~*

 

"Bye Peter. See you at practice tomorrow!"

Calum waves at Peter, leaving him as the only employee left in the restaurant. Evelyn knits her eyebrows together. "Is it closing time already?" Calum looks down at his phone and nods sadly. "Huh, I guess it is." He looks up to give her a weak smirk. "You should know; you're the owner's daughter."

Evelyn shrugs and gathers the few dishes the two were able to finish entirely. "Hey, I only help with the finances every once in a while, that's it." Calum quickly gets up from his seat and snatches the plates from Evelyn's hands. "By the way, that's my job, not yours."

She scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Doesn't mean I can't help."

"I'm just trying to be a waiter, ma'am," Calum chuckles as he disappears into the kitchen. Evelyn starts to place chairs upside down on top of their respective tables. Calum comes back out with a mop, surprised to see all the chairs are set up. He turns to Evelyn, who's sitting near the window watching the rain fall against it. He drags the mop with him and sits down right next to her.

"Enjoying the view?"

She shrugs and buries her head in her arms as she tucks her knees close to her body. "Not really." Calum furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

"I want to run away one day," Evelyn admits quietly, but loud enough for Calum to hear. "I want to go to every corner of the world and write about everything." She turns her head so she's slightly glancing at Calum. "I don't care what it is. I just don't want to be one of those writers that are comfortable where they are."

Calum smiles softly at her and breathes out slowly, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, I want that too; be anywhere but here." He laughs. "I'll probably get that, though. I've been invited to play football professionally."

Evelyn grins encouragingly. "Hey, that's great! You don't even have to worry about college like I did." Calum scoffs and shrugs. He gets up from his seat and starts to mop the floor. "That's what I thought, too."

"But...?"

"But... I don't know if I want it."

She nods understandingly and turns her body so she's able to watch Calum clean the floor. "That's what I thought about when I first started writing. I knew it wasn't a stable career and questioned whether it would be worth pursuing or not." She almost decides to not continue until she looks up and sees that Calum is leaning against his mop, his eyes staring at her in full focus. "As long as it's something you know you want to do in the long run, take the chance and never look back."

One corner of his lips quirk up into a side-smile and he continues to push and pull the mop against the floor. "You're right." He steals a look at her and adds, "You're always right."

 

*~*~*

 

At the cafe, the slices of cheesecake were all gone and Michael had just finished performing a few songs he had written to Jennell. She claps loudly and throws her feet on the table, causing the plate and forks to clink together. "Bravo!" She cheers loudly. Michael laughs and places his guitar down on the stage, taking a few dramatic bows.

Unanticipatedly, Michael's phone starts buzzing on the table. Jennell swoops it up and checks the caller ID. She holds it up for Michael to see. "It's your boy Luke." Michael raises an eyebrow in interest. "Put him on speaker."

She does as she's told and Luke voice radiates out the phone.  _"Mike! Help me, I've got a crisis on my hands!"_

"Hello Luke, you've been redirected to Jennell. Can I help you?" Jennell responds in a Siri-like voice. Michael giggles silently and picks up the dishes to bring to the kitchen.

_"Geez, how many people are you going to befriend? Evelyn, I guess I understand, but Michael? He's a loser!"_

From the kitchen, Michael yells, "I can hear you, asshole!"

Jennell and Luke snicker. "So, what's up?"

 _"Look, maybe I'll just call back another time. Knowing how much Michael has told me about you, which is_ **_a lot_ ** _, he probably-"_

Michael dashes out from the kitchen and almost dives for his phone, his face tomato red. Jennell gapes at him with an open-mouthed smile that eventually becomes a mischievious grin. "Shit, sorry. Luke, two words:  _shut up_."

Luke laughs, but quickly his voice becomes panicked and serious again.  _"It's about Jackie."_

"Did you find out how stereotypically cheerleader-y she is?" Jennell laughs. Michael smirks and rolls his eyes, disappearing to the kitchen again. Luke sighs sadly and replies,  _"I wish it were that."_

Jennell frowns and fixes her position so she's sitting properly, setting the phone on the table in front of her. "Oh. Is it that bad?"

_"She wants me to get Felix, the captain of the football team, to ask her out."_

Before Jennell can voice her sympathetic apologies, Michael's booming laughter radiates from the kitchen and he appears, a hand to his stomach and tears in his eyes.

"You're a fucking idiot! I told you to ask her out during the football game." He shakes his head and plops down in the chair across from Jennell. "I'm extremely disappointed in you."

 _"I'm sorry I don't live up to your expectations, douchebag! God, you are such a prick,"_ Luke angrily growls.

"You should've called Ashton instead of me. Or Calum. I'm only here to make fun of you," Michael giggles, completely unfazed. Jennell glares at him and tisks, kicking him effectively on the shin. Michael howls in pain.

Luke snickers.  _"Please tell me you kicked Michael in the balls for me."_

"Sadly, no. I'm sure the shin is close enough, though," Jennell smiles as she hi-fives herself.

_"As much as I want you to hurt him even more, can you guys help me out here? What do I do? I mean, I don't mind being her friend and all, but knowing how nice Felix is, I probably won't get my chance at all with him on her mind."_

"Well, maybe Felix doesn't like her. There's always that," Jennell says.

Michael, barely back to normal after checking his leg for a bruise, sneers at Jennell before suggesting, "Pay Felix to be a complete douche to Jackie and then after a few weeks or so, swoop in and be her knight in shining armor while Felix is pretending to be an ass in public."

Jennell scoffs and rolls her eyes. "That's stupid. I don't know

 _"You know what Jennell, that was kinda helpful. Thanks!"_ And with that, he hung up. Jennell smiles smugly and slides the phone over to Michael, who barely notices it to catch it. "What?"

"I'm better at giving advice than you are. Ha!"

Michael chuckles. "You don't know that I'm better than you. I'm usually not that helpful to Luke, so..."

"Excuses, excuses, excuses..." she tisks.

He rolls his eyes and sticks his tongue out at her as Jennell starts to giggle and pump her fists in the air.


	6. the one where luke finally plays a game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let's see where luke and jackie's relationship head after this one... ;)
> 
> also, i'm very sorry about the late update!!

Another few weeks later, Luke is joined by Michael and Ashton on the bench. This time, Calum was able to have someone cover his shift back at the restaurant. Alongside Felix, Calum was playing center forward and doing a hell of a job at it.

Even though Jackie came up to Luke a lot during the game, their conversations were mostly about Felix to his annoyance and Michael and Ashton's amusement.

"Have you told him I'm into yoga? Do you think that'll make him like me?" she airily asks as she twirls a strand of platinum blonde around her finger. He watches her in a trance, barely able to make a grunt of acknowledgement.

Michael rolls his eyes and groans quietly in boredom, hiding his head on Ashton's shoulder. Ashton chuckles quietly and pats Michael's back in sympathy.

"No and I don't know," Luke sighs. "Why can't  _you_ ask him out?"

Jackie gasps and holds a hand to her heart. "Do you want me to ruin my chances of going out with any other guy ever again?"

He smirks and shrugs teasingly. Jackie rolls her eyes and punches Luke's arm softly. "Hey, in my defense, I think it's cool when a girl asks a guy out. It shows a lot of confidence."

She quirks her head to the side in curiosity. "Really?"

"Yeah," Luke replies fondly and watches in admiration as Jackie skips away, her ponytail bouncing along with her.

Michael punches Luke on the shoulder and loudly sips on his soda. "Quit staring you perv." He leers at him and rolls his eyes, crossing his arms. "I am  _not_ a pervert."

"That's right. You're a loser," Ashton snickers, causing Michael to coo teasingly and give him a large side-hug. "Finally someone agrees with me!"

Luke scoffs defensively and says high-pitched, "What did I do to make me a so-called 'loser'?"

Bluntly, Ashton replies, "You're letting her go even if you don't want to, stupid."

Michael begins to fake cry and wraps his arms around Ashton. "You took the words right out of my mouth," he sobs. "I love you, man."

Ashton chuckles and pats Michael's back as Luke sighs heavily and leans his elbows on his knees and his head in his open hands. "I've lost my chance, haven't I?"

Before any of the two snickering boys can respond, the crowd gasps and hushes simultaneously as a few referees whistle and wave their hands frantically. Luke's jaw goes slack when he sees Felix has fallen down clutching his ankle in agony. He's escorted off the field and the coach jogs up to him, grabbing his jersey and pulling him to stand up. "Get off the bench, kid. You're taking Felix's place."

Luke's eyes widen in both horror and excitement. He turns back to see Ashton holding up two thumbs as Michael looks somewhat encouraging as he flips the bird at him before the coach pushes him to the field. Calum smiles at him and pats his back before the whistle blows to resume the game.

Back on the bench, Felix is being taken care of with Jackie at his side. Ashton observes them with a cringe on his face and Michael is trying as hard as he can to bite back a loud cackle.

"Is it me or is Felix flirting more with the medic rather than Jackie?" Michael whispers.

Ashton furrows his eyebrows. The medic, a clearly attractive model-looking 20-year-old, wraps a bandage around Felix's ankle as the strawberry-blonde tries to work up a conversation with him. In the meantime, Jackie is rubbing Felix's back and eventually wraps her arms around him.

"I'm not sure. He  _is_  holding onto Jackie's hands..."

"But he isn't listening to Jackie! That has to mean something, right?"

Ashton rolls his eyes. "Michael, just because a guy pays attention to another guy rather than a girl doesn't mean he's gay. Felix probably sprained his ankle and he's most likely worried that he won't be able to play for the rest of the season."

Michael holds his hands up defensively. "Sorry, I'm not an expert in sports."

"For the past five minutes we've been talking about medical related things." Ashton shakes his head. "You're hopeless." Michael only grins humorously at him.

On the field, Calum and Luke struggle to make any goals.

"Their defense is f*cking killing me," Calum pants, swiping some sweat off his forehead.

"Tell me about it," Luke replies, edging his feet around a player's legs, trying to steal the ball. He ends up tripping on himself and falling on his face. "Or maybe not, because that's definitely not helping me right now." He turns to see Jackie reluctantly being pulled away from Felix and back to where the cheerleaders are while Felix is still talking to the medic. He also sees MIchael laughing his ass off. "Asshole," Luke mutters.

He gets back up on his feet and looks up at the clock to find that there's only five minutes left in the game and they're at a tie. "And I was just getting started, too!"

Calum pats his back encouragingly. "Hey, if Felix does have a sprain in his ankle and it's just not something else, you'll have a lot more playing time."

At that moment, the ball is suddenly rolling towards Luke's feet. At first, he's unsure of what to do. He's been trying for the past forty minutes to have possession of the ball.

"Kick it!" He can hear everyone on the sidelines and crowd yelling at him, but the one voice that sticks out to him is Jackie's. Luke does as he's told and tries his best to get the ball around everyone standing in his way. He's had to pass it to a few people, but the ball keeps coming back to him, and he keeps getting closer to the goal.

Several feet away from the goal, he doesn't hesitate to kick it in. Luke closes his eyes and dreads the expectant groans of disappointment.

Instead, the crowd roars and screams in happiness. Luke opens his eyes and sees the ball is in the goal and the goalie is on the ground, cursing at himself. Calum runs up to him and lifts him up on his shoulders along with a few other players.

He starts to laugh in disbelief, running both his hands through his hair. The crappiest player on the team scoring the winning goal? It would make sense if this were some sort of movie but... is it? Never mind. He shakes off the idiotic thought that he's actually in a real-life movie and steadies himself when he's back down on the ground.

"Congrats!" Ashton exclaims, coming in for an insanely tight hug. Luke chuckles and pats his back. "Thanks, Ash." He opens his eyes to see Michael almost smiling and giving him a thumb's up. Once released from Ashton's grip, he looks around expectantly for a familiar blonde. He watches her dash right past him and towards a limping Felix, cooing and caring for him like a mother to a child.

Calum cringes and throws an arm around his shoulders. "Don't let it get you down."

Suddenly, Evelyn appears at Calum's side and awkwardly waves at everyone. "Hey." Calum's expression brightens up and he turns his entire body towards her. "Evelyn! What're you doing here?"

"I would say I'm here to support my cousin and his best friend -" she gives Luke a quick congratulatory hug, "-but I'm here because your sister has decided to use my apartment as a date setup."

Ashton's eyes widen and he says aggressively, "Date? With who?"

Evelyn rolls her eyes and flicks Ashton on the forehead. "With  _you_ , stupid. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I'm known for spoiling a lot of things so," she hands him a card, "here's my address. I hope you can follow directions easily."

With that, Ashton's gone in a blink of an eye. And so is Michael. "Hey, wait! You're my ride home, idiot!"

Calum giggles and shakes his head. "Do you want to head to the restaurant?" Evelyn shrugs. "Sure."

"Wait! How am I supposed to get home?" Luke asks in panic.

Evelyn thinks for a minute, then spots Jackie coming out of the locker room with keys swinging around her finger. She smirks. "Jackie drives a Bentley. Maybe you can ride with her."

And before Luke can protest, Calum and Evelyn are off to the parking lot. He groans and goes into mass hysteria in his brain before he tries his best to stride towards Jackie. She notices him, stops, and gives him a  _friendly_ smile. "Hey, you finally got to get on the field. Congrats."

He smiles shyly. "Thanks." Luke scratches the back of his neck and mumbles, "Is it okay if you can drive me home?"

Thankfully and horrifically, she can hear him. "Of course! Anything for a friend."

Luke sighs mentally. There goes that word again.  _Friend_.

"I just have to get my bag in the locker room," Luke says as he backs towards said place. Jackie nods and pats her hand on one of the benches. "I'll wait here."

Jackie adds, "Oh! If you see Felix, will you put in a good word for me again? Please?

He forces a smile and nods before dashing off and opening the doors to the locker room. Luke finds his locker and pulls out his duffel bag. For a second he thinks he should change, but then he remembers he hasn't brought any spare clothes for the past two years because he never thought he would have a chance to get off the bench for all of his high school life.

After making sure he's got everything he needs, Luke hears an odd sound coming from the showers. It would be stupid of him to investigate because it could be someone out to kill him - there he goes with his over-imaginative mind again - but he's too curious not to.

Luke cranes his head from around the corner, having a full view of not only the showers, but Felix lip-locking with the medic.

He almost screams in surprise, but manages to bite his lip and not fall on his ass. Instead of confronting Felix in his intense make out session, he runs out of there like the room was burning.

Thoughts run through his mind at a rapid speed. _Felix is gay? Is he experimenting? Should I tell Jackie? Will she be disappointed?_

_Does this mean I have a shot?_

Jackie stands up from her seat as Luke constantly trips on his feet as he stumbles towards her. "Whoa there, Twinkle Toes. Are you alright?"

He nods wordlessly and follows the petite blonde to the parking lot. Evelyn was right. Jackie  _did_ own a Bentley. A Bentley Continental, to be exact.

"Nice car," Luke says in awe as he slides his hand along the hood.

"Thanks, but it's not mine. It's my daddy's," Jackie replies casually. She hops in the driver's seat and waits expectantly for Luke to get in.

"Really? It seems like it's your type of car," he comments, buckling in his seat belt. He slowly starts to smirk. "Unless you're waiting for him to buy you the-"

"Convertible," she finishes. "Yes, I want the convertible." Jackie groans and leans her head against her headrest. "And I want it  _bad_."

Luke laughs and relaxes into his seat as Jackie eases them onto the road. As she drives into the night, Luke gives her directions to where his house is.

"So, did you see Felix in there?" Jackie asks after a few minutes.

His breath hitches. "No, sorry."

Jackie's hopeful smile turns into a forced one. "Oh... that's okay."

Luke furrows his eyebrows and frowns as he focuses on the road. If she was this down about him not being able to talk to Felix, how would she react if he told her what he saw in the locker room?

"Y'know, I'm starting to think maybe I don't have a chance with him. I mean... ever since sophomore year I've done nothing but flirt with him and he's done nothing to reciprocate my feelings."

Never mind, maybe she'll figure it out on her own.

"Why do you think that?"

She shrugs. "Maybe I'm not good enough."

Quickly, Luke responds, "You and I both know that's bullshit."

"You're just saying that to be nice," Jackie laughs bitterly. Luke turns to see her eyes are a little glassy and her grip on the wheel has tightened. She blinks hard and her focus doesn't seem to be on the road anymore. The car starts to swerve slightly off the lane and Luke has to shakily slow them down to a sideline. He stops the engine and turns on both her blinkers.

Despite how awkward it might be for her, Luke pulls Jackie to his lap and holds her tight as she begins to cry for reasons unknown to him, but it doesn't matter because she seems to need someone right now.

She wraps her arms around Luke's neck tentatively and tries to calm her sobs. "I'm sorry, oh my gosh this is so weird, I just... I'm always trying to be happiness for everybody that I forget to find my own happiness, y'know?"

 _Ah. That's why she's crying._ "Is that why you think you're not good enough for Felix?" He asks softly.

Jackie nods. "Kinda."

Luke pulls her head back into the crook of his neck and he starts to rub her back. "Jackie, if anything, you're  _too_  good for Felix."

She chuckles and gives Luke a friendly kiss on the cheek. "You always know how to cheer me up. Thank you."

As Jackie settles back into the driver's seat, Luke sighs and closes his eyes. 

_If only you knew how good I'd be for you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you weren't sure, the sentences in italics were luke's thoughts. :)


	7. the one where we learn about maria and ashton

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just realized that maria's character is a little vague (so is jennell's...) so i'm gonna go into a little detail about her in this one!
> 
> sorry the titles are so lame i'm not creative
> 
> ALSO SORRY THIS IS REALLY SHITTY AND SHORT I JUST WANTED TO UPDATE XP
> 
> i also just realized jackie and luke's relationship is like 'heartbreak girl' haha

 

After dropping Michael off at his house, Ashton almost surpasses the speed limit as he heads over to Evelyn's apartment for his and Maria's date.

On the way there, he thinks about how quickly he's fallen for her. In a way, their situation is a little  _Romeo and Juliet_ -esque. The only upside is that their love isn't as forbidden.

Love.  _It might be a little too early for that word_ , Ashton thinks.

He pulls up to the slightly shady looking apartment building and runs up the stairs to the right door. Ashton knocks lightly and sticks his hands in his pockets, trying to keep them from shaking. The door opens and reveals Maria with a bowler hat, a brown knit cardigan, and a tight black dress that reaches mid-thigh. Ashton's mouth almost drops to the ground.

Maria smiles and points up at his head. "We're matching."

"Huh, we are, aren't we?" Ashton chuckles as he pats the similar hat on his head. He enters the apartment and analyzes the decorations. Lights hang from the ceiling and drumsticks laid on the ground lead to the couch where  _Zombieland_ and Chinese takeout waits for them. "Shouldn't the guy be the one to plan the first date, not the girl?" He says as he follows Maria to the couch. He slings his arm over her shoulders and she cuddles into his embrace.

She rolls her eyes. "Don't be going into stereotypes with me."

Ashton raises his hands up in defense. "Sorry. I forgot that you tend to be a very straight-forward kind of girl."

Maria smirks and nods. "Which means I'm probably going to be the man in this relationship."

"I don't doubt that. You're a lot tougher than me, and that's saying something." He snorts and accepts a box of noodles from Maria. "May I ask how you became so tough?"

"Proper much?" Maria giggles. "I actually used to be extremely shy and kept to myself. It wasn't until the boy I liked in the 6th grade came up with a nickname I wasn't able to get rid of until sophomore year that I took a stand for myself."

"Do you mind if I ask you what was the nickname?"

"Ratface," Maria answers bluntly, taking a huge bite of noodles. Ashton frowns and moves his face closer to Maria's to get a closer look.

"You look nothing like a rat at all. What was he thinking?"

"Mind you that it was elementary school. I looked a hell of a lot different."

He chuckles and dares himself to move closer, his lips only centimeters from Maria's. She seems to be holding her breath. "You're a hell of a lot different from the other girls I've met, and in a good way."

She barely smiles before Ashton decides to move in and kiss her. At first, she doesn't move out of surprise, but eventually her lips begin to move.

It was actually Maria's first kiss. She wasn't sure how to kiss, but Ashton's lips seemed to be leading the way for her.

She hadn't had time to tell Ashton much about her besides her ambitions. Other than that, they were practically nothing more than acquaintances.

Well, technically, not anymore, but they still barely knew much about each other.

Maria pulls away a lot faster than Ashton had anticipated. She sits there in shock and he feels his heart beating rapidly. Did she not like the kiss? Did she not feel anything? The silence was murdering him.

"I.. I-I'm sorry..." she mutters quietly. "I..." she smiles sheepishly, her cheeks turning a deep red. "I think we're moving a bit too fast for my liking. I'm sorry. I shouldn't even say that because I've never kissed a guy before but-"

His eyes widen and he shakes his head. "It's alright, I should be sorry. I had no idea. Sorry." He sighs sharply. "I just... I kinda had to. I've never liked someone this much this quick before and the moment felt right."

She slowly starts to smile and giggles softly to herself. She can tell Ashton's being genuine because he's staring at her in a way no one has ever looked at her before. It's the kind of look you would see a guy give a girl in a cheesy romantic movie. Maria never thought that would be real, but it is.

With a nod, she replies, "I understand. Is it okay if we can just eat and watch  _Zombieland_?"

Ashton smiles back and almost leans down to kiss her again, but opts to kiss her on the forehead. "Of course. Whatever you want."  
  


 

*~*~*  
  


 

Later that night, Ashton parks his car right outside the diner. He skips to the front door and opens it with a dreamy sigh, attracting the attention of the still present Evelyn and Calum and newcomers Jennell and Michael sitting in a booth. Evelyn raises an eyebrow and smirks.

"How was the date, Romeo?"

He drags a chair to the end of table and plops down in it, leaning his elbow against it and grins airily at the four of them. "I think I'm in love."

Michael snorts. "You guys aren't even dating and you're in love already? What'd she do, buy you a year's supply of Vegemite?"

Ashton holds up a small jar of Vegemite. "No, but when I mentioned that she took a jar from the cupboard and let me have one."

Evelyn gasps and reaches for the jar. "Hey, that's mine! I've been waiting all day to put some on bread!"

"Too bad, it's mine now."

She pouts and crosses her arms. Calum chuckles and pats her back in sympathy.

Michael smiles and leans back against the seat. "I know girls make you pretty happy, but this one's made you  _over the roof_ happy. What's the deal?"

Ashton shrugs. "I dunno. I just have a good feeling about her."

Evelyn rolls his eyes. "You're a hopeless romantic, you know that?"

"Maybe he's just making up for his last relationship. I'm not gonna lie, but Ash-"

Suddenly, Ashton's mood shifts and he's glaring darkly at Michael. "You know we don't ever bring that up.  _Ever_."

Michael gulps and nods slightly.

Jennell raises an eyebrow curiously when she sees Michael, Calum, and even Evelyn look anywhere but at Ashton. The awkward silence becomes unbearable for her, so she decides to break the ice the way she always does.

"What is it that you all know that I don't? What did Ashton-"

Michael quickly closes Jennell's mouth with his hand. She sees that his eyes are strangely wide in a panicked fashion. With a groan, she attempts to bite his hand, which she succeeds at, and manages to make firm eye contact with Ashton.

"Clearly I'm the only one in this group that doesn't know what's going on, and seeing that we're probably going to be friends now, I'd like to know."

"Do you have any chill?" Michael throws his hands up in defeat, purposefully letting an arm go around Jennell on the booth. She sees this and scoots away from him with a smirk.

Ashton jumps in his seat. He hasn't talked about this in a while, although the memories are still fresh in his mind. Unfortunately.

"I was a dick to my last girlfriend-"

"And he won't tell us why he was such a dick. I liked her, too!" Michael cuts off in exasperation. Jennell glares at him, allowing Ashton to continue.

"I was going through a rough patch and I know I'm all to blame for what I did to her. There's not one day I don't regret how I was. I don't want to go into detail about it, but I have a feeling being with Maria will open my eyes."

Although the explanation was quite vague, Jennell knows better than to push his buttons in front of everyone. "That's good."

She sees Calum staring at Ashton warily. She knows they're not that familiar with each other, but with what Calum knows about Ashton, he looks like he's about to punch him in the face.

"I think I'm going to head home." Jennell turns to Ashton. "Will you drive me?"

Ashton nods wordlessly and with relief, he heads towards the door. Michael asks if she would rather have him walk her home, but she declines. She wants to talk to Ashton.

As they exit the diner, she decides it's time. "Will you tell me what happened?"

He seemed to be more relaxed with her, considering they go to the same uni and talk from time to time.

"I used to be abusive to my last girlfriend," Ashton says shakily. "I was going through some deep shit during that time. I was angry and sad and confused. I couldn't control what I was doing to her and-"

They're now in his car and he's hunched over the steering wheel biting his lip to fight back tears. She looks on at him sympathetically.

"When I saw Maria, I saw a glimmer of hope. That she'll look past all my past and present flaws and see  _me_." He glances at Jennell and chuckles. "I feel like shit sometimes because I haven't told her anything about my past. I guess I'm just scared that she won't like me afterwords." 

Jennell rolls her eyes. "I don't know if you've watched any chick-flicks, but one of the main things that breaks the couple up in a movie is when you prolong a secret that you know that you have to let out as soon as possible."

Ashton sighs and stares straight ahead at the road. "I don't know..."

"Trust me. I've had to keep secrets in past relationships before, and instead of telling the truth, I lied. The outcome was  _ugly_."

She leans against the window and crosses her arms. "Maria's a good girl, and from what I heard from Michael, you're her first boyfriend. If you fuck up this relationship, you'll find Calum right above you beating the shit out of your face."

"Alright." Ashton breathes out sharply. "Okay... I think I'll do it."

"If you don't," she raises her eyebrows, "I will. Got it?"

He nods with widened eyes. "Okay, I got it! Geez, Michael wasn't kidding when he said he's got a feisty one in his hands." 

Jennell scoffs, but is curious as to what Ashton meant. Instead, she ignores it and urges Ashton to step on it. 


	8. the one with burgers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not good at updating, writing, or making titles, so sorry in advance :P

Usually Jennell is on time for everything. She absolutely  _hates_ the feeling of being late for something. Lately, that habit of hers has been going down the drain. She had forgotten to set her alarm last night, so it wasn't a surprise that Evelyn was jumping on her bed to wake her up at one in the afternoon.

"What am I late for now?" Jennell grumbles as she flips herself around to bury her face in her pillow.

"You have a visitor, stupid," Evelyn replies tiredly. She jumps off the bed and slings her bag over her shoulder. "I just stopped by to make sure you were awake."

Jennell rubs her eyes awake. "You have class today?"

Evelyn nods. "Yeah. And I actually have plans tonight, so I'll be heading off now. Don't forget to turn off all the lights when you leave, alright? We don't want to get another huge electrical bill."

"Yes 'Mom'." Jennell rolls her eyes and slams her body back onto her bed. She had completely let the word 'visitor' fly over her head until she heard a knock at her already open door.

"Jennell?"

_Shit_ , she thinks. She knows that voice anywhere.

"Sorry, I forgot to set my alarm," she explains groggily, too embarrassed to expose her zit-infested and tired looking face.

Her bed dip down next to her. She didn't know they were allowed to invade each other's personal spaces now. They were close enough to do so, though.

She turns around and jumps slightly at the sight of how close Michael is to her. He notices this and blushes, sitting at the end of her bed instead. "Sorry."

"It's okay. I like your hair."

Michael's hair previously was a scarlet, and Jennell had bet five dollars that he would change it within a week. She wasn't wrong, so a certain roommate owed her.

"Thanks. I like your hair too."

Jennell furrows her eyebrows. "Um, I didn't do anything to it?"

He chuckles. "I know. I don't know if you noticed, but it's sticking out all over the place."

Her eyes widen. She groans and pulls at her covers so it's covering her entire body. "Don't look at me, I'm hideous!"

With a laugh, Michael nods. "Okay. I'll just watch TV while you get ready."

Not only has it been two weeks after Halloween, it was Homecoming for Greenwich High School. The group had already talked about plans for that day. Calum was able to convince Evelyn to go with him as a friend, Ashton and Maria were going as dates, and Luke was going solo. After much determination, Jackie had somehow convinced Felix to go to Homecoming with her. It was probably because Luke hadn't told her his secret yet, which pissed him off because he even had a new set of information: Felix already had a boyfriend.

Anyways, Jennell hopped out of the shower and pulled on a sweatshirt and leggings. Michael and Jennell weren't an established couple like Ashton and Maria, but they decided they were going to do something together since the rest of their group had someone to get into the school with. Although both were recent graduates, their school IDs were no longer legitimate.

She heads to the tiny living room to see Michael watching a rerun of The Office. She smiles.

Jennell was glad to have a friend like Michael. Yes, Evelyn is technically her best friend, but they certainly had their differences in subjects that Jennell usually found very important. With Michael, she had someone she could act like a 5-year-old with and play at playgrounds with and still have intense discussions about which All Time Low album was the best.

"Ready to go?" Michael asked, his finger poised over the power button. Jennell shakes her head and plops down on the couch next to him. "Nah, let's watch one more episode  before we go."

 

*~*~*

 

The other three boys met up at the diner where Luke was finishing up his shift. Calum and Ashton were already dressed up while Luke was still in his work clothes.

"Y'know, I don't even see why I have to go. You're all going to be with your significant other and I'll be sitting in the corner scrolling down my phone while people look at me in sympathy," Luke complains as he wipes down the counter. Ashton and Calum sip on milkshakes that Luke had just finished up for them.

"Hey, you already bought the ticket. You're coming whether you like it or not," Calum says as he slurps down on his drink.

Luke sighs. "I bought it when I thought I had a chance with Jackie. Now I'm lonely."

"Then go find someone to bring before the night begins," Ashton suggests. "It's not like it's the end of the world for you."

"Maybe," Luke shrugs.

 

*~*~*

 

Driving Evelyn's car, Jennell and Michael drive aimlessly around the town. They did agree to hang out today, but they didn't discuss what they were going  _to do_.

"Are you hungry?" Michael asks as he tries to think of something.

"Not really. I had half a box of cereal while we watched that episode of The Office," Jennell chuckles, deciding to get some gas at a station near the freeway. As Michael throws out random ideas, she stares at the freeway with curious eyes. She's been out of town a few times with Evelyn during the past couple of summers, but not so out of town that it was completely unfamiliar.

"Jennell? Are you listening to me?"

"Let's drive south and see what we find," Jennell blurts out, already buckling her seatbelt. Michael smiles at her in amusement. "Like spontaneously?"

She nods, giving Michael an excited and giddy expression. "Let's do it."

 

*~*~*

 

At Jackie's house, her parents were making a huge fuss about her and Felix. Maria was there as well, but instead of being encouraging, she felt slightly awkward because just moments ago, Luke had confided in her about his secret.

_"I know that you're the closest to Jackie out of all of us, but I want to make sure you don't tell her or anyone else this one thing, even if your life depended on it," Luke had said to her on the phone. She was sitting in the bathroom, trying to be as quiet as possible when he had told her to find somewhere to hide for a little bit._

_"Okay, okay. I don't talk to her that much anyway," Maria replied quickly, looking towards the bathroom door with scared eyes. "Hurry up and tell me."_

_"Felix is gay," Luke answered in relief, feeling the weight lift off his shoulders, while Maria felt that weight crash onto her. "You're kidding. No way!"_

_Luke laughs, glad that he could trust someone to relieve himself from keeping this secret to himself. "I know right? Look, I gotta go. The boys are coming to pick me up soon. We can talk about this later, right?"_

_Maria giggles. The secret is so juicy and exciting that she couldn't help but laugh out of context. "Of course. See you later."_

Now she was here, sitting in Jackie's kitchen watching the two talk about things Maria wasn't catching up on. She knew that Felix wasn't interested, now that Luke had informed her. He kept forcing smiles and pulling away from her touches. Maria wondered how the hell Jackie had convinced him to go with her to Homecoming in the first place.

Thankfully, she was saved by the doorbell. Evelyn entered with a dark teal dress and sparkly black heels, her hair curled loosely over one shoulder. Maria squealed softly and gave her a hug. "You look stunning. Calum is going to  _freak_."

"And distracting enough for you and Ashton to sneak out of the dance?" Evelyn asks hopefully. Maria smiles shyly. "Yeah. It'll probably make him self-conscious about his height as well."

Evelyn chuckles. "Not my fault I was born tall."

Grabbing her wrist, Maria guides Evelyn towards the kitchen. "I know it's your goal to distract Calum, but right now I need you to distract me from Jackie and her forced Homecoming date and talk to me about college."

 

*~*~*

 

"Are you sure you know where we're headed?" Michael asks for about the twentieth time that evening.

Jennell groans. "I already told you, I checked three times with the guy at the burger shack to make sure we had the right directions. I  _know_ I'm headed the right way."

"Just making sure." Michael rolls his eyes and leans back into his seat. Jennell looks over at him and sighs, making a mental note to  _never_  get in another spontaneous road trip with Michael ever again. He's the epitome of a bratty 5-year-old who can't stand thirty minutes or more in a car ride.

Although, if she had the chance to relive this moment again, she would do it in a heartbeat. Michael doesn't bother her that much. It's not like he's asking the questions because he thinks they didn't need directions or anything. He knows that Jennell needs someone to keep her head in focus because she tends to daydream at the worst possible times, especially when driving.

At exactly 7:32 at night, Jennell parked the car in front of a small beach that overlooked the teal colored sea, edged by the crescent shaped shore. "I thought it would be bigger," Michael comments. It was Jennell's turn to roll her eyes. "Not everyone can have the things they want, can they?" He snorts, already familiar with their friendly banter.

They carry their burgers and blankets to where they assume is the middle of the beach. Michael takes off his shoes and runs into the water while Jennell smooths out the blankets. "We don't have towels, idiot!" Jennell calls out. Thankfully, Michael dipped a toe in the water before concluding that it was 'freezing'.

"No shit," Jennell giggles. She hands Michael his burger and they dig in right away.

"What did you order?" He asks, trying to start up some conversation. It's starting to get a little chilly.

"Just a regular cheeseburger, I wasn't feeling picky. You?"

"Same, actually."

"Mm."

They continue eating again until Michael feels the need to talk again. Jennell has noticed that Michael doesn't like it when there's silence while eating food. She's glad that they have that in common.

"How's the band going along? Is it just you and Christian right now?"

She senses a jealous tone in his voice when he says Christian's, the jazz singer from the cafe, name. Lately it's been a topic of conversation, and lately she's been picking that up from him.

"Actually, no. I befriended a guy named Jason. He and I study together in the library sometimes and I recently found out that he plays bass. I was planning on asking him to join the band next week."

"Oh. Another guy."

Jennell bites back the urge to say a snarky remark. Why is he being so jealous about her hanging out with other guys?

"We've been writing together, Christian and I," Jennell continues. "This could really be the start of something amazing, I can feel it."

She looks over to Michael for encouragement. She can see the ghost of a smile on his lips. At least it's better than the forced smiles he was giving her recently.

"Are you pissed off about something? I understand if you're not interested in the topic of my band anymore, but can you at least tell me why you get really fucking angry every time I bring it up?"

He blushes, now looking like anything but angry. "I-I'm sorry. Let's just eat, okay?"

Usually, Jennell would insist on continuing to talk about it, because eventually, the emotions build up into something messier, and that's the last thing she wants for them to be.

 

*~*~*

 

The three girls and Felix drive in Jackie's car to the diner where Evelyn will be dropped off and Ashton and Luke will be picked up. Ashton opens the car door, allowing Evelyn to step out. She's surprised to see the boy that's supposed to be dressed up in a tuxedo is instead wearing his usual waiter uniform. She laughs awkwardly, unsure what to make of this situation.

"It's 7:00 Cal... shouldn't you be dressed by now?"

He nods, but doesn't answer.

"Don't freak me out. I  _will_ hit you."

He rolls his eyes, shaking his head. "Alright. Have a seat."

Calum leads her to her usual seat in the back corner by the counter. She watches as he dissappears and reappears from the kitchen with a tray of familiar dishes. Two bacon cheeseburgers with a side of fries and two strawberry milkshakes. She blushes out of the blue.

"You're such a sweetheart," she says as she pinches his chubby cheeks. He chuckles and places it on the counter. Instead of sitting down next to her, he stays standing. "Why couldn't you have just dressed up in your tuxedo?"

"I was just going to wear a dress shirt, don't worry about it," Calum laughs. "Do you always panic when things don't go exactly the way you want?"

He didn't mean to sound harsh, in fact he sounded only curious, but it seemed to have struck a nerve in her. "I do, actually. It's an annoying trait of mine."

Calum furrows his eyebrows. "Annoying? It's just part of who you are. At least you have a set plan of your life. I'm still undecided about mine."

Evelyn rolls her eyes. "C'mon. You have the opportunity to play football professionally. How can you pass that up?"

"What if I don't want to leave my daily routine? I enjoy playing bass horribly in my unpopular band while serving people on the side for some extra cash," Calum replies with a shrug. He glances at her. "I don't think I could leave y-  _that_  behind."

She nods and finishes up her burger. "If you want my opinion, you should become a football player." Evelyn winks and grins. "Besides, I've seen you at the games. You're kind of essential to that team."

He shrugs again. "Mmm."

"What's 'mmm'?" She scoffs. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad about not knowing what you want to do, but what's holding you back exactly? Nothing."

"Sometimes it's not that something is holding back, but there's something I maybe don't want to leave behind that I don't want to lose having a shot at, you know?"

Evelyn, still confused, asks, "And what's that?"

Calum blushes, shaking his head to dismiss the subject. He sips loudly on his milkshake and watches as Evelyn does the same. "Never mind."


	9. the one where everything has changed (part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen to everything has changed by taylor swift ft. ed sheeran !!! recommended :)))
> 
> i might make a playlist for each couple but idk if anyone would care about that :P let me know if i should!
> 
> btw, i think there'll be one or two more chapters dedicated to homecoming? there's gonna be quite a lot of character development so i'm sorry if it feels too long! :)
> 
> NOTE: it'd be really appreciated if u checked this out on wattpad!! i'm under the same username xx

As the night goes on, the temperature begins to drop. Michael and Jennell pick up their belongings and huddle together in the back of the car.

"Why can't we turn on the AC?" Michael asks grumpily.

"The battery will die before we get home, doofus," Jennell replies in the same matter.

Despite their previous argument, the two are sitting quite close to each other. It's understandable though; it's cold in the car without the air conditioner on.

Jennell's not stupid. She knows Michael has some feelings for her. His flirting when they first met was a dead giveaway. It's just that for the longest time, Jennell has been very closed off about close relationships. The last few she's had are a good reason why. She likes Michael, and a few times she had considered opening up a bit, but there are moments where commitment is the last thing she wants. So is getting hurt. That's why the feeling of being strong and independent has been the number one thing on her mind since the middle of senior year.

Her thoughts are disturbed when she hears Michael sigh heavily.

"Sorry for being weird lately."

She chuckles softly, nodding in affirmation. Jennell already knows why he's acting weird, but letting him know that would only embarrass him. Plus, he would expect her to reciprocate how he feels for her, and she knows she can't handle that. Yet.

"It's alright." She turns her head to face him, her cheeks flushed due to the increasing body heat. "Just... don't do it again, because I won't be okay with it the next time."

He nods. "I promise. The last thing I want to do is hurt you."

 _There he goes again. He's so oblivious to what he's saying_ , she thinks. Michael always does that, she's noticed lately. Saying things that show he likes her, but always hiding it in the end because he's afraid of saying anything straightforward. One day, both of them are going to explode and ruin why they have. Whatever it is.

The relationship they have is very weird. They hang out often. On the outside, most could mistaken them as a young couple in love. On the inside, they're both very confused people who are unsure about their feelings.

And even though their time spent together is a lot, what they know about each other is very little.

Opening up about themselves is both their biggest problems.

 

*~*~*

 

Once at the dance, Luke was officially the 'third wheel'. Technically, he should be the seventh wheel since he's dateless with three couples surrounding him, but that wouldn't make much sense.

For the first half hour, Luke dedicated himself to finding anyone in the same situation as him.

He came up short.

"Luke! Will you fetch Felix and I some punch?" Jackie says to him. He noticed he had bumped into the couple after circling around the gym for the third time.

Before grumbling an agreement, Felix says, "How about I go with him? It looks like your cheerleader friends are coming over."

And before Jackie can give him permission, Felix is practically dragging Luke to the punch bowl.

"You gotta help me, mate," says Felix in a panicked tone. "It's only been ten minutes and I think Jackie's going to try and make me ask her to marry her."

It's as if the angels above were on Luke's side as he could see the heavens above coming down to him. He smiles widely and asks, "So you don't like Jackie? At all?"

"Of course not," Felix scoffs. "I know you saw me making out with the medic in the locker room and I know that you like Jackie."

Luke's eyes widen. "Is it really that obvious?"

Felix smiles. "Yeah."

"What can I do to help?"

"Maybe give me some ideas?" Felix turns to see Jackie just finishing up talking to her friends. "And make it quick. I think we're running out of time."

"Honestly, I don't think it's as hard as you think. All you have to do is be straightforward with her and tell her you're gay and not interested. Simple as that."

"No, no, no, not as simple as that, my friend," Felix laughs nervously with a shake of his head. They look back to see Jackie headed their way. "Ugh, I'll handle it on my own. You just get out of here before you get sucked into a chat about Kim Kardashian's nose job."

Luke frowns as he walks away from the couple. Now, he's not so sure Felix is as nice as he puts himself out to be.

 

*~*~*

 

"Are you sure Calum didn't see us?" Ashton asks worriedly, looking behind him to make sure he's out of sight. Maria rolls her eyes and drags him out the door. "If you look any longer he'll find us for sure."

Ashton chuckles. "Sometimes I forget how feisty you are."

"Get used to it, Irwin," Maria giggles. "Now, you said you were taking me somewhere if we're able to sneak out. We're out, so where do we go?"

He intertwines his fingers with hers and walks towards the forest across the street. "It's a surprise."

 

*~*~*

 

Closing her phone, Jennell sighs and casually plops her head onto Michael's shoulder. "That was Jackie."

For a moment, Michael doesn't respond. He's too busy being distracted by the fact that Jennell is practically cuddling with him right now.

"Oh."

She continues, "I don't know what she was saying, but all I heard was blubbering and loud music in the background."

"I'm sure Luke will come to the rescue at any moment now," Michael says reassuringly. "He likes her way too much to not keep an eye on her."

Jennell smiles and turns to face Michael in criss-cross position. "I wanna hear about the back story between Jackie and Luke."

He laughs, endeared by the subtle childishness of her actions and voice. "He's had a crush on her ever since they were partnered up for a project in English in the 9th grade. It was a  _Romeo and Juliet_ reenactment and they were partnered up to do the balcony scene. Just without the kissing and such." 

She laughs with her teeth almost clenched together and her tongue just barely sticking out. "That's so cute."

"I know. Isn't it adorable?" Sarcasm oozes out of his voice.

"Hey, that's the name of the first song Christian and I finished. 'Adorable'." Jennell grins proudly at herself. "Do you wanna hear it?"

Michael bites his lip. He's rarely heard Jennell's voice, and when he has, it's usually coming from the shower. As much as he wants to, the idea of Christian possibly writing the song about Jennell comes to mind, and it pisses him off like the idea of Jennell being in a band full of guys. And he feels guilty feeling this way because Jennell isn't his, she's free to be with whoever she wants to be with. Seeing as he wasn't as supportive about her band earlier, he decides to try and be a bit more encouraging about it. It's not like he wants her dreams to crash and burn because of his discouragement. 

"Sure," Michael smiles, reaching for his acoustic guitar in the back. Handing it to her, he watches as Jennell tunes the strings and strums the chords she's using. 

She enters the song with a simple strumming pattern and chord structure, but the interesting rhythm of the song makes up for it.

It's a lively and upbeat love song that makes Michael forget that it's a love song at all, just because it's  _so_  catchy.

He expected it to sound a bit more punk pop, but it was leaning towards pop more than punk. 

Lyrics such as 'his bittersweet words don't phase me, those little white lies are intoxicating' and 'his sarcastic tongue only fuels the fire' take him aback because he  _swears_ she's in-directing him. Then again, Jennell could be singing about someone else.

When she finishes the song, she looks up at him expectantly.

"If only this were on the radio right now. Your band would win over the entire town's hearts, maybe even the country," Michael comments honestly, internally cringing at his own words because he sounds like an X-Factor judge. It is true, though. Jennell's voice is infectious and charming.

"That's so cliched, but thanks," Jennell laughs. Deep down, she can see Michael's disturbed about something. She exhales heavily and blurts out, "It's not about you. Christian wrote this song about his girlfriend. He's  _taken. God._ "

Michael's eyes widen and he blushes hotly, trying to put on a mask of confusion. "What are you-"

"I know you like me, Mikey, okay?" Jennell states tiredly. "And if you need an answer, no, I don't feel the same way."

The words are bitter to her tongue, but it's probably just an aftertaste from the burgers.

He bites his lip again and nods. "It's fine," Michael says slowly. "I didn't need an answer. I was going to tell you eventually."

"No you weren't," she scoffs angrily. "Besides, I know you probably thought I would reciprocate those feelings for you because you're different from all the other guys I've gone out with. Well, I have news for you. I would never! I'm always going to end up with some ratty and sleazy guy who wants nothing more than a toy to put his arm around and call his 'baby'."

Silence overtakes the car and Michael has no idea what to say. He was never thinking that at all, nor did he know who these guys Jennell went out with and why. He wanted to say something comforting, but the tone in her voice sounded confused and scared and tired, and he knew it was time to go home after the sudden and unexpected confessional outburst. 

She needs to give herself a rest tonight.

 

*~*~*

 

Even though Evelyn was by his side looking like a queen, Calum couldn't help but worry about his sister. He hasn't run into her all night. Plus, when he casually asked around about Maria, most of the responses he's gotten were shrugs as to her location.

"Do you think she's okay? Should I call the police? What if she was kidnapped?" Calum panicked, his eyebrows furrowed together and a visible sweat broken on his forehead.

Evelyn smiles slightly. She knows Calum is extremely protective about Maria, but she's never seen it in action before. She places a comforting hand on his chest and says soothingly, "You need to relax. Stop worrying about her and worry about you. Her homecoming night is  _hers_ , not yours. Focus on  _your_ night." _  
_

He seemed to have calm down a little bit, but the stress was still evident in his face. Thankfully, a slow song, more specifically _That Girl_ by Justin Timberlake, came on and all the couples scurried to the dance floor. Evelyn encloses Calum's hand around hers and leads him to the floor. "Let's go."

His attention on Maria dissolved and all of it was on Evelyn as she guided his hands to her hips and slipped hers around his neck. He could feel his cheeks and neck burning. "I, uh... I've never slow danced with a girl before," Calum confesses embarrassingly.

"It's okay. I'll show you." She sways them side to side, making sure Calum is faced away from the exit doors. Maria and Ashton slip away without Calum noticing. 

For half of the song, Calum and Evelyn continue to sway back and forth with the occasional twirl. None of them make a move to get any closer, though. 

"I know that Maria likes Ashton and I should probably be a more open minded brother, but I still think she shouldn't go after him," Calum says out of the blue.

Evelyn nods in understanding. She was originally thinking the same thing when Maria had told her about it. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure they're not doing anything. Maria is a good girl and most of the time she's reading books and worrying about college. Soon enough she'll realize you were right and she'll give up."

She knows all of that is a lie. She's never seen two people so in love as Ashton and Maria. It's like  _West Side Story_ , but she's sure Ashton's not going to die in the end. Or Calum.

Calum smiles and tugs at Evelyn's hips, pulling her close. His face is centimeters from hers, but the only thing separating them is their cheeks. "Thank you," he whispers. She can hear the genuinity in his tone.

"Mmhm." Evelyn pulls herself closer and rests her chin on Calum's shoulder, relieved that she could keep Ashton and Maria's secret hidden a little longer.

 

*~*~*

 

A little while after running off from Felix, Luke gets up from his lonely seat on the bleachers and heads to the bathrooms in the back of the school. No one ever goes to those anyway. 

Before he opens the boy's restroom door, he can hear faint sobs from the girl's bathroom. He sighs, knowing he'd feel extremely guilty if he didn't go check on who was crying.

Luke pushes the door open cautiously and calls out quietly, "Hello? Are you okay?"

"Luke?" a familiar cracked voice replies. His eyes widen and he searches through all the stalls, finding Jackie in the disabled stall.

His eyes widen. "Shit," he mumbles, kneeling down to get to Jackie's level. Her makeup was running down her face. Luke sighed, seriously wishing he had amnesia right now because he doesn't want to ever have a memory of Jackie crying.

Luke reaches out carefully and wipes off her tears with his thumbs, cupping her small head with his hands. 

"What happened?" Luke questioned softly.

Jackie sobs again, turning her head away from Luke and biting her lip down, trying to fight the tears. "H-he left me. Said h-he never liked me and j-just ran off," she stuttered, breaking down again. Half of the reason she was crying because she  _hated_ looking and feeling weak and vulnerable, especially in front of Luke.

Luke's jaw falls open as he processes this information. He slowly takes Jackie into his arms and rubs her back comfortingly. "What a jackass. He never deserved you Jackie."

She doesn't make any action to agree or disagree. She just wraps her arms around Luke's middle and holds onto him tight as if she were to let go, she would fall into a dark oblivion. 

"I just want to go home, Luke. Please," Jackie begs, pulling away from their embrace.

He nods and stands up, taking Jackie's hand and helping her up. "Maybe we should wait a bit. I know you don't like it when you look like a wreck in public," he jokes, wiping her tears away again. Jackie smiles in gratitude, taking one of Luke's hands and squeezing it. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Luke smiles brightly, nodding in acknowledgement.  _I don't know what I'd do without you, either_.


	10. the one where everything has changed (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more part of homecoming night/morning after! besides, michael and jennell won't be back in the main setting until early morning, and there are more scenes that require changes in the character's relationships, so just one more part and we'll move on haha

Luke and Jackie sit on the bleachers in the far back, doing their best to remain out of sight.

"H-he didn't even tell me why!" she sobs, burying herself deeper into Luke's chest. "I didn't realize Felix could be such an-"

"Asshole?" Luke finishes for her with a humorous smile. Jackie chuckles and wipes a bit of snot away from under her nose. "Yeah, that."

He's confident that Evelyn and Calum won't need a ride home for a while, and Ashton and Maria were off somewhere, so maybe... no, Jackie can't drive in this state. 

"I'll be right back, okay?"

Jackie nods, squeaking, "Come back soon."

His heart soars. Not once has Jackie ever requested him something like this, even it's just a simple request.

"Okay."

Luke dashes down the bleachers, Jackie's car keys jingling in his pocket. He finds Evelyn and Calum in the middle of the crowd talking to a few of Evelyn's senior friends and smirks. What a married couple.

He gives Calum the keys. "Jackie can't drive tonight. Make sure you return her Cadillac to her tomorrow?"

Calum raises his eyebrows in surprise and confusion. "Um... why?"

"I'll tell you later. Have fun dude!"

Luke returns to his damsel in distress and offers her a hand. "My house is just a few blocks away and I know you'll probably get us in a car accident if you drive tonight. It's entirely up to you, though. We can always ask Calum to-"

Jackie shakes her head and takes Luke's hand. "No, it's fine. I'd rather spend the night at your house anyway. My house always gets very... lonely."

His eyes widen.  _Stay the night? Holy shit... sweet!_

 

*~*~*

 

Although it was only November, snow began to fall from the sky in small snowflakes. Maria looked up and grinned widely, still holding onto Ashton's hand tightly. They began to pile up on the needles, leaves, and branches of the tall trees towering over them. Some managed to stick to the ground.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I'm only wearing a dress and heels," Maria said worriedly, already feeling chilly.

Ashton slips off his coat and drapes it over Maria's petite figure. "We won't be here for long, don't worry."

She nods. They arrive at a bare spot in the middle of the forest where instead of thick trunks were frosted patches of moss and grass. Logs and large rocks lay around, the surface already covered with a thin layer of snow. Ashton sits the both of them down on a log not covered with snow yet.

"Why'd you take me here?" She asks with a puzzled smile. Ashton returns it with an endeared one and kisses her lips tenderly.

He shrugs. "I know we've been dating for a short time, but I thought now would be a good time to... tell you about my past."

Maria side-smiles and looks around at her surroundings. "The atmosphere makes it seem like a Twilight movie." She faces him. "Are you going to tell me you're a vampire?"

Ashton laughs, shaking his head. "If only that were it." His expression turns serious and stern. "I... um..."

She allows herself to slip her arms through his coat and puts a hand on his leg. "Ashton, whatever it is, I promise I won't get mad."

He hangs his head, chuckling darkly. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Maria." He looks up again. His body shakes, not because he's cold, but because he's extremely nervous. This can't be kept a secret any longer.

"I was a completely different person when I was younger," he starts, squeezing Maria's hand with both of his large ones. "I only had one other girlfriend aside from you, but that- that doesn't mean I treated her like a queen."

Her eyebrows are raised, now scared as to where this is going.  _What does he mean?_

Biting his lip, he continues. "I was abusive. Verbally, emotionally...  _physically_..."

Suddenly, Maria's hands are no longer in his grip. His heart breaks, knowing what's going to happen next. Ashton's been anticipating her reaction for weeks on end.

"She broke up with me before anything worse could happen. It's a good thing she did, because-"

Maria backs away, keeping herself a safe distance from Ashton. "Are you trying to tell me that-"

"No, no I'm not. Please, just listen to me. I'm not finished," Ashton says desperately, not wanting her to run away before he can explain himself completely.

One foot is poised to stay in place, the other ready to run away. Maria is conflicted, but decides to listen.

He notices this and sighs in relief. "Thank you."

"Just... just hurry up. Please," Maria says shakily.

"After she broke up with me, my dad left. He didn't leave a note or told any of us. He just disappeared. When I was with my girlfriend, my dad wasn't exactly the best dad you could ask for. He... he was... you get what I mean. I was furious at him. I took my anger out on anything in my way. I got into fights. I went to parties and drank as much as I could. But... I also took care of my family very well. I wanted them to not end up like me. I don't know... I had a very conflicting life and I was confused and angry most of the time.

"In the end, I'm not that person anymore. I'm better. You gave me hope and faith that I could grow from my past relationship."

He waited for a response. An action. Anything.

Tears filled her eyes, but they didn't fall. Goosebumps formed on her skin and her hold on his coat tightened. She backed away, and that's when he knew what would happen next.

"I... I need time," Maria stutters, pressing her lips together.

Ashton nods, trying his best not to scare her away. Even though he probably already did.

"I'll see you, okay?"

Her voice shook and fear took over her expression.

"Why don't I drive you home? It's really-"

" _No_ ," Maria says firmly. Not sure what to say next, she runs off. Ashton sighs heavily, squeezing his hands together and running them through his hair and down his face. If he were to run off after her, it would only ensue a fight. The last thing he wanted to do was lose her trust in him.

 

*~*~*

 

Although Michael had only driven twice in his lifetime (both of which Ashton was there to watch his every single move in case he killed everyone in the car), he took over as the driver. Jennell still looked quite distressed and he decided she needed to put all her focus on her emotions. 

Besides, driving was actually pretty fun.

He liked watching the environment change in the blink of an eye. It would go from the vast ocean to his right to nothing but sand on his left.

After a while, he took a small peek to where Jennell was snuggled up underneath all the blankets in the passenger seat. She looks so comfortable and cute with a corner of the blanket tugged up to cover half of her face. 

Michael shakes his head together quickly, returning his focus to the road. 

_She doesn't like you like that, so stop pining for her! It's time to move on and find someone who will._

 

*~*~*

 

The sixth slow song that night starts to play, and this time, Evelyn and Calum aren't feeling it. Their feet are tired and so are their voices from trying to talk over the loud music.

"Do you wanna get out of here?" Calum asks, his voice raspy and his head throbbing. He throws in a desperate smile, hoping to convince her without doing too much.

She grins and nods. "God, I thought you'd never ask." Evelyn hooks her arm in Calum's and they leave with their coats slipped on and an extra bounce in their step. Calum twirls the Cadillac's keys around his finger, whistling a random tune. Evelyn sees this and chuckles.

"Why do you have the keys to Jackie's car?"

Calum shrugs. "I don't know. Luke just handed them to me and left with Jackie hand in hand."

"Ooh." Evelyn smirks. "Did she finally dump Felix for Lukey?"

He laughs, shrugging. "Maybe. He said he'd explain it to me later." He unlocks the car and opens the passenger door for Evelyn. "After you, m'lady."

She rolls her eyes but giggles. "Thank you, sir."

Calum plops himself down in the driver's seat, excited to drive one of his favorite types of cars. He rubs his hands together and revs up the engine. "Woo! This is one fine baby!"

"Calm down, tiger," Evelyn guffaws, patting his shoulder. "So, where should we go?"

"My house?" Calum suggests.

"Sure."

 

*~*~*

 

Back at the Hood house, Maria is already in her pajamas and curled up in her bed, listening to a playlist full of sad songs while crying her eyes out. 

She couldn't understand why she was crying. It's not like Ashton was going to hurt her. Was he?

There was no knowing if his past actions would ever appear in their relationship. But Maria trusted him. He had kept a  _huge_ secret from her for a long time. It should've been the first thing to tell her. Before the kisses. Before the cuddling. Before all the stupid dates.

Then again, does it  _have_ to be the first topic of conversation? He was most likely uncomfortable with the idea of revealing that old side of his. Maria sighs, pausing her tear-fest. 

The whirlpool of emotions confused her too much for her to control of bear. 

He wasn't going to hurt her. He had moved on.

Ashton might hurt her. The past can't be completely be in the past.

Maria begins to cry again, wishing she had never met Ashton and wishing she had never ran away.

 

*~*~*

 

"Sorry it's a mess. I live with two older brothers and a large dog so..."

"It's okay Luke. You warned me like three times."

Jackie takes off her heels and throws them by the disorganized shoe rack by the front door. Once again, her true height was revealed. Rarely did she ever not wear heels. She was always at least an inch than Luke, but now she barely reached the bottom of his chin. 

"Do you have any clothes I could borrow?" she asks, although she highly doubted it because this house was clearly inhabited mostly by men.

Luke chuckles. "I'm not sure. Maybe head to my parent's room at the end of the hall on the left. My mum might have some small clothes for you to fit in."

"Aren't your parents home?" Jackie asks before slowly heading down the hall, turning on the lights.

He shakes his head. "They're off on holiday for the week. My brothers on the other hand..." he shrugs. "They probably thought better to leave me alone for the weekend."

"How considerate," Jackie smiles. "If I were you, I'd want my parents to be around all the time."

She opens Luke's parent's closet and searched around Mrs. Hemmings' dresser, eventually finding a small enough sweater and pair of sweats. Just as quick as she slipped off her dress, she pulled on her new found clothes and sighed in relief. If only pajamas were a required outfit for school, she'd be living the happiest life on earth.

Luke appears at the doorway with his house clothes on as well, his hair mused up a bit. His eyebrows are furrowed. "C'mon, your parents have to be a little annoying."

Jackie slips by Luke with her dress slung over her arm. Luke points to the door next to his room where a piece of paper saying 'Luke's room: DON'T ENTER' hangs. She tosses her dress on the dresser and decides to check out Luke's room since he's seen hers so many times. "I wouldn't know, they're rarely home," she says, answering his question.

"Oh." 

Although his floor is the equivalent of a trash bag, his closet is neatly organized. She admires this.

"You don't have to say sorry or anything. I prefer you don't."

"Why would I apologize? I want what you have!"

She scoffs, sharply turning around with her arms cross, giving him an icy stare. "You want  _my_ life? You want to have no one but an annoyingly fluffy cat to spend the holidays and basically every other day with? You want all your family members to pretend you don't exist? If that's what you want, be my guest, I'll switch lives with you right now.

"You should be grateful for your family. Some people don't really have any."

Luke bits his lip, already knowing he had said the wrong thing the second it slipped out past his lips. "Jackie-"

" **What**?" 

"You  _have_  a family."

She was leaning against the window, pulling at the blinds. In response, she scoffs.

"Jackie, I'm serious."

"If you know who my family is, tell me," Jackie demands, turning around with her arms crossed once again.

Pretending to look like he's contemplating this, Luke replies, "Well, there's Maria, Ashton, Calum, Jennell, Evelyn, and Michael. Plus, you can't forget your bestest friend in the entire world, me!"

She laughs, shaking her head. He always knows how to cheer her up. Jackie opens her arms, feeling Luke's tall body enclose her in a warm hug. "You're an idiot."

"Yeah, well, I'm  _your_ idiot, so there's a difference."

 

*~*~*

 

Ashton wanders on the streets, extremely reluctant to go back home. He had planned on having Maria meet his family after the confession. It looks like that won't happen for a while.

He finds himself outside the university. It would be irrational to find someone to hook up with, to take all his anger out on. The old him would do that in a heartbeat. The  _now_ him... he was different.

Why couldn't Maria see that?

Maybe she would change her mind tomorrow. Ashton had to give her some space. She was only so young.

Yearning for something to take his mind off all this anxiousness, Ashton begins to walk towards the nearest gas station.

A cigarette or two couldn't hurt.

 

*~*~*

 

Calum laughs at another joke told by Evelyn as he fishes out his house key. He tries to insert the key in the hole, but the door was already ajar. His eyes widen in fear.

"What's wrong?" Evelyn asks when she sees Calum's body stiffen.

"Someone's here," he replies quietly, holding his hand out to keep her behind him. Evelyn looks down at his protective hand in disgust and slaps it away from her. He turns and scoffs at her. "What was that for?"

She sticks her tongue out at him. "I can protect myself, doofus. I have a black belt."

He rolls his eyes. "Sorry. It was my first instinct, alright?"

"Whatever," she grumbles as Calum slowly enters the house, finding the first thing he can use as a weapon. A shoe. He looks down at it and shakes his head.  _Oh well, I'm not wasting any time finding anything else to use._

He motions for Evelyn to close the door when he hears quiet crying coming from Maria's room. Calum's heart falls to the bottom of his chest.  _Fuck_.

He's gone in a blink of an eye, arriving at Maria's side in no time. Even though her eyes are closed, Calum shakes her awake anyway.

"Ria. Wake up, sis. Please."

She refuses to show her face, but her eyes flutter open. Evelyn shows up by the doorway, not wanting to interrupt the two siblings.

"Maria," Calum insists. "Who made you cry?"

The small girl sniffles, knowing Calum's protective instinct will only get worse if she admits anything. Not only that, but her future relationships are in jeopardy at this point. 

"Leave me alone, Calum."

" **No**. I want to know who did this to you." He squeezes his eyes shut, running a hand through his hair. He asks reluctantly, "Was it  Ashton?"

Her body tenses up, and Calum sees this and knows right away. He grits his teeth together and clenches his fist. He wants to punch Ashton's face in. 

Calum kisses the top of Maria's head, tucking her in and making sure she's alright before Evelyn and him close her bedroom door. 

He does nothing to move away from her door. Evelyn places a hand on his arm and tries to tug him away. "Calum. She's going to be fine in there."

Hesitantly, Calum shuffles with Evelyn to the living room downstairs. He kicks a chair over, a low growl emitting from his throat. 

Evelyn watches him, looking indifferent about his reaction, but feeling scared. This was a side of him she wasn't expecting.

"I'm gonna kill that piece of shit," Calum spits out, striding towards the door. Evelyn's eyes widen. She reaches for his ear and pulls at it harshly. He cries out in pain. "What the fuck, Evelyn?!"

"You don't know what happened," she says sternly. "I suggest you stay out of this and let them handle their own problems. Stop getting in the way."

"I'm not getting in the way, I'm trying to help," Calum insists almost desperately. He rips his hold from Evelyn. " _You're_ the one getting in the way. You told me she would get over him! That nothing would happen! You  _lied_!"

Her jaw drops in shock. Calum is definitely losing his mind. "You're fucking kidding me! How would I know Maria would end up a sobbing mess in her room because of Ashton? I'm not a psychic! I care for her as much as you, but I'm not going to try to 'fix' all of her problems for her. This is Maria's problem, not yours. This is Maria's  _life_ , not yours, so stay the  _fuck_  out of it until she actually asks for your help."

He still looks furious, flames appearing in his eyes. Calum approaches her until they're centimeters away from each other's faces. Evelyn has lost all of her cool. 

" _Fuck you_."

Evelyn pushes him away from her, appalled that he actually said that to her. Calum, the always polite and respectful  _man_  telling her, essentially, that she was being a bitch about this. He's so blind in his irrationality that he's blaming her for all of this.

"I... well... fuck you too, Hood! God, I wish I never fucking met you!"

With that, Evelyn was out the door and out of his life. 


	11. the one where everything has changed (part 3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think this is the last part of the 'everything has changed' saga of the story! now things should really change and there should be A LOT of drama to ensue. maybe i'll throw in a few different pairings just so u can see how the characters interact and all. ok, enough of me, enjoy!

Jennell woke up the next morning, still in Evelyn's car in the same clothes she was in last night. She looked up and looked at the side mirror, scrunching up her nose at the sight of her smudged makeup and unruly hair. The only thing she brought as backup was concealer in her purse. Obviously that wouldn't be enough to cover up the mess she looked like right now.

She catches sight of Michael dragging himself out of the cafe, smiling tiredly at the sight of Jennell just waking up. Opening the door, she follows Michael in side the cafe. 

"Did you drive us home all night?"

"Yep." He brews them both a cup of coffee. "Sugar or black?"

"Sugar, and lots of it, please," Jennell requested, hopping on the counter with a blanket still wrapped around her. "You should have woken me up. You look like you haven't slept all night."

The red-haired boy shrugs, giving her a lazy smile. "Eh, it's alright. It doesn't matter."

He concentrates on his coffee when he hears Jennell say something with phrases such as 'i know this girl' and 'you two would be perfect' and 'hook you up'. It was completely selfish of him to say, but he didn't want to 'hook up' with anyone but Jennell. Michael already decided he was too hung up on this girl to pursue anyone else.

"Mikey! Can you hear me?"

Michael nods absent-minded-ly. "Uh-huh."

Jennell rolls her eyes and slaps Michael's shoulder. "Listen up, butthead. Her name's Chrissy and she just broke up with her boyfriend a few days ago. She's a really cool girl and she's looking for a rebound right now. Mind being that rebound?"

He scoffs, his jaw slack in slight shock. "Aren't you supposed to  _not_ encourage rebounding when someone is fresh on the market?"

What he meant to say was, "Were you out of your mind when you figured out that I like you? How can you expect me to say 'yes' to such a stupid favor?" but he was to afraid. Oh well. It's not like he'll ever have the courage to say what he wants, anyway.

"Yeah, but she won't budge.  _Pleaseeee_?"

Michael rolls his eyes. Since when was she so eager to hand him off to other girls? It's not like she was like that in the past. It was always Jennell and Michael, Michael and Jennell. Jenichael. Michell. 

"Fine," he groans. "But you owe me big time, Gobble."

It was Jennell's turn to groan. "I thought I told you not to call me that."

He smiles. "Hey, if everyone else is allowed to say it, so can I."

Jennell feels a fuzzy, warm sensation in her heart when Michael smiles at her. It's annoying the crap out of her. It's a good thing Chrissy was finally single. Jennell needed time to sort out her feelings, and the first step to doing that was to get rid of Michael. When she sees Michael and Chrissy together, Jennell hopes she won't feel jealousy. Hopefully.

 

*~*~*

 

Maria wakes up at around the same time, dragging herself out of bed and into the kitchen where her mother is just finishing up cooking pancakes. She kisses her mother on the cheek, placing two pancakes on her plate and pouring syrup all over them.

"Mum, where's Calum?" she questions when she notices Calum is nowhere to be seen.

"I don't know, sweetie. I didn't see him in his room last night. I just assumed he was over at Ashton's since you weren't with him."

She tenses up at Ashton's name. "Maybe."

 

*~*~*

 

Evelyn has never done anything worse than kiss someone who smoked. She remembered kissing another person who was smoking last night, but everything after that wasn't remembered. Evelyn  _knows_ she didn't drink or do drugs, so the reason why she couldn't recall anything is unknown.

She woke up in an unfamiliar apartment, a rattier one than her's and Jennell's. Pizza boxes were littered from the small kitchen to behind the couch she was sleeping on. In front of the couch was a thick TV with an Xbox and four controllers lying on top of it. A bag of M&Ms served as her pillow.

This was definitely a boy's apartment. 

 _Nice! You scored last night, Ev! I can't wait to tell Jennell!_ Evelyn smiles widely. She wonders who she crashed with. 

She looks down at her attire with a frown. Only her underwear was on, which meant she didn't get anywhere near past second base. It's a little disappointing, but it's a huge accomplishment for someone like Evelyn.

Evelyn looked down to the front of the couch and gasped loudly, biting her lip a little to late.

Ashton shot up from where he was lying on the ground, staring at Evelyn in horror and shock. She's relieved she's not the only one traumatized by this.

"Oh, God, I slept with  _you_!?" Ashton shrieks. "Not that you're a bad kisser, but-" _  
_

"We didn't sleep together, stupid. I'm still in my underwear and so are you," Evelyn points out. "Although, I do smell like your cologne, so we did do something...."

Ashton sticks his tongue out in disgust. "I think I ate you out."

Evelyn's eyes widen and she covers her face in embarrassment. "Ewwww! I can't believe you're the first person I went to third base with!"

The dirty blonde laughs and shrugs. "Hey, at least you got someone experienced. If it were Calum..."

"And it will never be, because we're nothing more than acquaintances. That bastard," Evelyn mumbles angrily, flopping back down on the couch, unaware that she was still uncovered.

Ashton raises his eyebrows in interest. "What did he do?" Then his eyebrows raise in realization. "Fuck, he's gonna be so pissed at me."  _Then_ he covers his face in shame. "Maria's never going to forgive me."

Evelyn nods. "Hm. I guess we both have some problems with the Hood siblings."

"Maria ran away from me after I told her my secret," Ashton sighs.

"Calum blamed me for not knowing Maria was going to get hurt because of you," Evelyn pitches in. "I know you definitely want this to be a secret, but  _I_ definitely want to rub this in Calum's face just to piss him off."

Ashton shakes his head. "He'd end up telling Maria that I cheated on you."

"We'd have to tell them anyway. If we don't, it's just going to be another secret that's weighing you down," Evelyn says. "Do you really want that?"

He sighs. "No."

"Good. The first time we see them, we tell them. Deal?"

Ashton shakes her hand. "Deal."

 

*~*~*

 

Luke woke up to the smell of bacon, eggs, and fresh coffee coming from the kitchen. He hopped out of bed and ran down the stairs, surprised to see Jackie in front of the stove instead of his mother. Well, it made sense because his parents were gone for the week.

Subconsciously, he wraps his arms around her petite shoulders and inhales the heavenly smell. "I had  _no_ idea you could cook!"

Jackie chuckles and blushes as she flips the eggs over. "I'd love to reply to you right now, but you're kinda shirtless."

Luke should have blushed. He knew how buff he became after that first game he got off the bench and the many games after that. His shoulders were broader and he was pretty sure he no longer had saggy man boobs. "Yeah, sorry. Does it make you uncomfortable?"

Jackie tries her best to put on a silly smile and pokes Luke's chest. "A little. I hope that doesn't ruin your self-esteem or anything."

"Does this mean you think I'm hot?" Luke laughs.

She wasn't going to lie. Luke is her best friend  _but_ he's a really hot best friend. Instead, she laughs in return and shoos him away. "Go put a shirt on!"

Just as Luke entered his room to do as Jackie said, the sound of the doorbell rang throughout the house. Jackie finishes the eggs, slides them onto a plate, and puts the bacon on low heat before dashing to the door to open it. Calum, also in his pajamas, stands in front of her with an expression mixed with surprise and guilt. "Come on in."

Calum takes off his sneakers and follows Jackie into the kitchen, accepting her offer of hot coffee. "That smells good. Did you cook?"

Jackie nods. "I'm a girl full of surprises."

Calum smirks. He definitely wasn't expecting Jackie to be here in the morning, so she wasn't lying. "Yeah. Anyway, I hope you don't mind me ruining your morning."

"There, shirt is on and I'm ready for-" Luke stops mid sentence, looking a bit disappointed that Calum is here. He was just getting started for a full on flirtation fest with Jackie. "Oh, hey Cal."

He waves, already regretting being here. "If you want, I can just leave-"

"No, it's alright!" Jackie insists, placing a hand on his arm. "It sounded like you were going to tell me something really juicy."

Luke raises an eyebrow in interest. "Ooh, can I get in on this?"

Calum rolls his eyes and nods. "Yeah, yeah. Ugh, you guys are grossly adorable."

Jackie and Luke look at each other with shy smiles and turn back to Calum with their coffee mugs and bacon ready.

"I know I'm technically not with Evelyn, but since it's out in the open that I really like her, I kinda ruined it with her last night."

"What'd you do?" Jackie asks.

Calum holds up one finger. "First, I kinda called her a bitch for not knowing Maria was going to get hurt by Ashton. Don't tell me, I know I'm an idiot for doing such a thing." He holds up another finger. "Second, I took out my irrational anger on someone."

"Did you get in a fight?" Luke questions excitedly. Jackie slaps him on the arm with a stern glare.

Calum scoffs. "No, you know I'd lose. I... I had sex with someone."

He was expecting them to be more like "Goodness gracious!" or "Oh my stars!" rather than "So?" and "What's the big deal?".

"Cal, you and Evie weren't and aren't dating. You having sex with someone at your age is normal," Jackie says, earning a nod from Luke.

Calum runs a hand through his hair. "No, you don't understand. I think the girl I had sex with is related to Evelyn."

Luke's eyes widen. "Evelyn has a step-sister. She's a year older and works at a thrift store not too far from here."

Jackie furrows her eyebrows. "Evie's parents divorced?" Luke nods. "She has a step-mother."

Calum covers his mouth with a hand. "Um... she had dark brown eyes and scarlet hair. You don't think..."

 Luke hids his face with his hands, shaking his head slowly. "Ugh..."

With an excited yet horrified expression, Jackie asks, "WHAT?!"

"Calum, you just had sex with Carmelita Gray-Fox."

 

*~*~*

**if you know what video game Carmelita is from/i hinted at then kudos to u, i love u so much haha**

*~*~*

 

Michael opens the cafe after a few hours of informative chatter about each other. He slips on his apron over his black sweater and shoots Jennell a tired look when a small stream of customers begin to flow in. Feeling empathetic towards the red-haired boy, Jennell hops behind the counter, puts on an apron from the back room, and pats Michael on the back.

He turns around and smiles. "You look cute with an apron on."

She blushes, not used to his nonchalant compliments. "Uh, thanks. I'll take over the register, I have experience." Michael nods and starts to make the orders Jennell throws at him, at the same time taking cash and giving the correct change. In his mind, he prays Ashton comes in soon. He didn't realize how many people like to get coffee on Sunday mornings.

As if God heard his prayers, Ashton dashes in with a panicked look in his eyes. Michael could see that it wasn't about being late to work. As Ashton puts on his apron and helps Michael with the drinks and pastries, Michael questions him.

"Are you alright?"

Ashton glances at him, giving him a straight smile. "Yeah, of course."

Obviously, he's not convinced. Thankfully, the sudden group of customers began to die down. He tells Jennell to handle the next few orders as he takes Ashton to the back room. He hops on a pile of coffee bean bags and looks at Ashton. He's trying to look anywhere but Michael.

"C'mon, you know you can tell me anything. We are roommates after all."

"You're going to kill me, Mikey. Then you're going to tell Calum, and I can't let you betray me like that," Ashton says.

Michael snorts. "Ash, don't go all Les Mis on me."

"Fine," Ashton breathes out sharply. "I made out with Evelyn last night."

He had nothing to spit out, so Michael just spit out his own saliva. "Holy shit, man!"

He holds his hands out, trying to calm down Michael. "We didn't go any farther than that. Although, I did a little... playing around in the lower region with her."

Michael covers his ears and squeezes his eye shut. "I DON'T WANNA HEAR ANYTHING. NOTHING ABOUT THE NASTY. JUST TELL ME WHEN YOU'RE DONE."

Ashton rolls his eyes, taking Michael's hands off his hears and lifting his eyelids up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get into detail."

"If I weren't so loyal to you, Calum would flip his shit right now," Michael laughs, shaking his head with his arms crossed. He looks to see that Ashton still doesn't looked relieved. "There's still more you aren't telling me."

"Calum kinda already hates me, anyway. I told Maria about my ex-girlfriend and Evelyn filled me in on what happened when they found Maria crying in her room." Ashton bites his lip, not wanting to imagine Maria crying. It breaks his heart. "I don't know how that led to me waking up on the floor in front of the couch where Evelyn was sleeping."

Michael sticks his tongue out. "Gross. You guys made out on our couch?"

Ashton nods. "Look, I don't like the idea of it either."

"You're gonna have to tell Maria soon. That sucks."

"I know. That's why I need your help getting her to talk to me. I tried calling her on the way here and I even tried to stop by her house. Her mom wouldn't let me in."

Michael pats Ashton's shoulder. "Hey, you're kinda like my best friend second to Cal. I'll do whatever it takes."

Ashton rolls his eyes and laughs. "Way to make a man feel better, Cliffo."

"Guys! I'm gonna need your help here!" Jennell calls desperately. 

"Duty calls!" Michael exclaims. He smiles at Ashton, slinging his arm around him as the exit the back room. "Let's get to work, bud."


	12. the one where luke bags jackie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you don't think this title sucks haha
> 
> also, sorry there isn't much waiter stuff going on! i promise i'll get to that soon :)

Even though Evelyn is the type of girl to be straightforward, she's been dreading the day she would see  Calum  at the diner again. Thanksgiving was nearing and her parents had called, already making plans to have a  pre -Thanksgiving dinner at the diner with her. She decided she needed to try passing this week and the next leading up to that dinner by drowning herself in her studying. It was needed dearly; she had been neglecting it the minute she met  Calum .

Now that she thinks about it, she's never met anyone like Calum. No other boy has ever kept her mind off of school and work and all things studying.

There were always the really hot professors, but they were only subtle crushes. The boys at uni were no luck; they were always all too sleazy for her taste.

Calum... he's a gentleman, to her surprise. He's polite, well-mannered, and put together despite how  _boyish_ he can act sometimes.

Evelyn shakes her head, trying to put all her focus on this damned textbook. Not Calum.

Just as the thought of him drifts away, her phone begins to buzz. Ah, now who could it be?

Without looking at the caller ID, she answers. "Hello?"

"Ev... hey."

Her entire body tenses up.  _Calum_. "Hi."

He hears the discomfort in her tone. "If you're up to it... can you come by to the diner tonight after closing? We need to talk."

She bites her lip. This was the thing she was avoiding the most, but the one thing she really needed to get over with.  _Ugh._

"I'll be there."

 

*~*~*

 

Luke stood in front of Jackie's house dressed as well as he could. He hoped a grey plaid dress-shirt and dark blue jeans would work. After all, he let his mother do the shopping for once.

He was informed to bring flowers and spray on some cologne (courtesy of his dad) for some reason. Was she going to take him out on a date?

The door swung open and the mansion was filled with maids and butlers rushing around. He felt a soft hand drag him inside and the door slamming shut. "Jackie!" he exclaims. "What's going- oh."

His jaw almost falls to the floor at the sight of Jackie. Her lightly died blonde hair was tied up in a loose and burly bun, accentuated with silver jewelry and a pale pink above-knee dress. "You look gorgeous."

She slaps his arm, blushing intensely and smiling shyly. "Shut up, Luke. C'mon, let's go somewhere private."

His eyes widen.  _What's with all these advances?_

They arrive in her extremely pink room, settling down on her fluffy bed. Her cat, Monty, is curled up on one of the pillows.

"I think I know why Felix dumped me."

 _Finally_.

When Luke doesn't react, Jackie shakes him. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yes, Jackie," Luke laughs. "Actually, I need to tell you something. I know why, too."

Jackie's lips form an 'o' and her eyebrows raise in interest. "You do?"

Luke smirks, a twinkle of mischievousness in his eyes. "I saw him and the medic from the game a month or two ago making out in the locker room."

He expected her to hate her for not telling him any sooner. Jackie hated when she didn't know gossip right away.

Instead, she laughs. "That's how you found out he was gay? I saw him holding hands with the same medic a few days ago when my friends and I went to the mall."

"Juicy," Luke replies playfully, making Jackie giggle again. "Okay, are you going to tell me why I'm all dressed up?"

"Right!" Jackie exclaims, jumping off the bed and checking her makeup in the mirror of her connected bathroom. "My parents have come home, telling me they've hit a jackpot in our side oil business. In celebration, they've invited some of the most prestegious people in the country to join us."

Luke listens in awe. That sounds fancy! "Um, and why am I here?"

She twirls around, pointing at him with a smile. " _You're_ here to take me out on a date."

His eyes almost fall out of his sockets.  _No. Way_. "E-excuse me?"

Jackie chuckles. "You really need to listen better. Look, I don't want to be at this party. My parents always make me suck up to all these old people so they'll get a better chance at making connections and making money. It's boring and a complete waste of my time. If you tell them you're taking me out, then they'll certainly let me leave."

He furrows his eyebrows. "Wouldn't a sleepover at one of your cheerleader friend's houses be a better excuse?"

"No, silly! My persuasion skills don't faze them anymore. If you charm it up with them, they'll be sure to let me go."

Luke gulps. He's never met Jackie's parents before. "How can you be so sure I'll be charming? I don't even know your parent's dislikes and likes are!" he says nervously.

The sound of the front door closing makes Jackie jump. She grabs Luke's hand and drags him downstairs. "Daddy likes cars and football. Mother has a passion for interior design. She is an interior designer after all. Does that cover it for you?"

They stop right in front of Jackie's parents, and Luke looks up at them with another gulp. "Uh, yeah. Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Sizemore."

 

*~*~*

 

Evelyn knew she eventually had to be here. Besides, she  _does_  handle the restaurant's finances on the side. She pushes open the door, finding the chairs set up on the tables, the lights dim-lighted, and the counter extremely shiny. Calum walks out with a washcloth in his hand and waves.

"Hey."

She nods in acknowledgement, immediately heading for the back office to pick up some spreadsheets she needs to fill out. "I kinda needed to talk to you too."

"Oh. That's good, I guess."

He cringes. Not once have the two ever had an awkward pause like this. They return to the main area, Evelyn sitting in her usual stool and Calum continuing to wipe the already clean counters. "I'll go first, if you want," Calum says.

Evelyn scoffs. "You were the one that asked if I could come here, anyway."

He blushes. "Right. Um, so... last night, I kinda didn't stay at home."

She raises an eyebrow. "Mmhm?"

Calum closes his eyes and says quickly, "I think I had sex with your step-sister last night."

Evelyn chokes on her own spit and her eye become as wide as the restaurant's largest plates. She stumbles out of her seat and points at Calum, her mouth open but nothing but incoherent sounds coming out. After processing this information, she stutters out, "Wh-why? Wait... how'd you know I have a  _step_ -sister?!"

"I had a little chat with Luke and Jackie this morning," Calum explains with a sheepish smile. His smile falls into a scared frown when Evelyn ends up becoming more furious than before. "Why, out of all the people, would you go to Luke and Jackie for help?! You know Jackie's the gossip queen and Luke can't keep a secret to himself!"

"Why do you care? It's not like you're in high school anymore," Calum tries to reason. He knows they're both at fault. She  _did_ have something else to say. "Besides, you were going to tell me something. Maybe it'll even it out."

Evelyn opens her mouth to say something, but Calum has a point. They may not be dating, but Calum has become a close friend to her. Knowing that he's done the dirty with her step-sister makes her want to throw up three different ways. "Okay, okay. I made out with Ashton last night."

Calum's eyes goes wide and he begins to gag. "Oh  _God_ , ew!"

She giggles. "I know! Not as gross as you having sex with my step-sister."

"To be fair," he chuckles, "I made sure we lasted at the most, three minutes."

Evelyn snorts. "I didn't even get to the sex part with Ashton, thank goodness."

Both of their laughter begins to die down. To both of their surprise, their anger didn't last as long as they expected.

"So... are we cool?" Calum asks, his task of cleaning the counters already forgotten. Evelyn smiles. "Yeah, all is forgiven."

He nods, glad that they're finally able to talk normally again. "Need a ride home?"

"Yeah. I hate taking the bus."

Unaware of how intimate it is, Evelyn takes Calum's hand and lets him lead her out of the diner.

 

*~*~*

 

Calum's car screeches to a stop outside Evelyn's apartment and hops out of the car, opening the door for her before she can take off her seat belt. "Oh... thanks, Cal."

He allows her to hook her arm with his as they head up to her apartment. "I don't mean this to be rude, but why do you live in such a shady area?"

Evelyn laughs, her breath visible in the cold night. "Jennell and I couldn't afford anything in the city. We had to settle for outside the borders to be able to find a place in our budget."

Looking around for anyone suspicious (he always finds a random pervert hiding in the shadows, which is why he always walks her to her door), Calum nods. "I would say 'same', but I still live with my mum, so..."

She laughs again, a little disappointed that they have already arrived at her door. "Here we are."

His smile becomes a straight line. "Yeah."

Unlocking the door, Evelyn looks behind her to still see Calum standing on the welcome mat. Usually she would never invite a boy in; it's not her protocol. A feeling in her gut tells her she should, though. 

"Why don't you come in for a bit and warm up? I can make you some hot cocoa on the go."

Calum slowly begins to smile. "I thought I'm supposed to be the waiter, not you." He enters anyway, feeling a little excited, though he's not sure why.

 

*~*~*

 

Luke had a longer chat than expected with Jackie's parents. They seemed to be a lot less stern than he imagined. Mr. Sizemore wasn't that hard to talk to; their interests were closely in common. Mrs. Sizemore made his task to be charming a lot easier than expected. Although she seemed to be a very proper and put-together type of woman, she was very sarcastic and witty, which worked well in Luke's favor. 

Before heading anywhere, Luke thought it would be a good idea to have Jackie meet his family as well, just to make it even between them. To his surprise, Jackie was a lot more nervous than he was.

"Do I look to preppy? Rich? Do they hate that? What do your parents like? Do they like fashion? Because I think that's the only thing-"

Luke exits the car and pats her shoulder when she begins to walk to his front door by his side. "You're going to fit in just fine. Just be who you are when you're around me."

He opens the door to find a hectic household, to his embarrassment.  _Once a mess, always a mess._  

"Mom! Dad! Tweedle Dee and Dum! I'm home!"

His dog, Molly, comes running from the kitchen and almost tackles the blondes. Luke laughs and Jackie squeals. Not once has she ever been around a dog before. Luke remembers this and coaxes Molly to go to his room. "Be a good girl, okay?"

Seeming to understand her, Molly does as she's told. 

His brothers, Jack and Ben, also appear from the kitchen, their expressions shocked when they see Jackie at his side. 

"Finally," Ben laughs, embracing his little brother in a tight hug, also making sure to shake Jackie's hand with a polite smile. "I thought you two were supposed to be at her house."

"Plans change," Jackie shrugs with a shy smile. She shakes Jack's hand as well after Jack ruins Luke's hair a little. A groan emits from Luke's mouth and Jackie giggles, licking her hands and helping him by fixing his quiff. He blushes. "Thanks."

Jackie heads into the living room to meet Luke's father, Mr. Hemmings. "Call me Andy, please," he grins. Out of Luke's earshot, he whispers, "Y'know, you're the first girl Luke's ever brought home."

She laughs quietly and asks, "Really?"

"Yep," Andy chuckles. "He's always so shy to ever talk to one, so I would like to thank you for giving him the chance to."

In Jackie's mind, the kindness and love the Hemmings family was emitting made her want to cry. Not once has her family ever been this open to her as Luke's was. It almost felt like a real date.

"I am a very giving person," Jackie jokes, causing Andy to chuckle again. 

She enters the kitchen, taking in the delectable homemade dinner smell. It's been a while since she's smelled such a thing. "You must be Jackie! Welcome!" Jackie looks up to see a stout and adorable woman, closely resembling Luke's smile and blue eyes. The woman - obviously his mom - grins widely at her and gives her a hug. "Are you here for dinner?"

Jackie raises an eyebrow at Luke. She wasn't planning that, but it was completely up to him. She wouldn't mind. It hasn't been more than five minutes and she already felt a part of this family.

And he knew exactly how she was feeling. 

"Yeah, if you don't mind," Luke answers for Jackie, earning a warm smile from the small blonde.

 

*~*~*

 

Dinner was amazing.

Jackie had never felt more wonderful in her life. Joy was the only feeling she had as she laughed, joked, and talked with Luke's parents and brothers. Not only that, but Mrs. Hemmings'-  _Liz's_  food was delicious. It wasn't that perfectly handcrafted shit that her chefs would create. It was food made with love, having ever intention to make everyone feel full in a good way.

They were sitting in her car now, parked on the side of the road in the middle of downtown. Thankfully, Luke came prepared with a full wallet and credit card. Hopefully the few gift cards he still had would be useful as well. 

"Thank you for dinner," Jackie says genuinely. She turns to grin at him. "I adore your family."

He smiles back, grateful that she didn't hate them. He was always a little embarrassed about them, but mostly about his brothers. "That's great. You're welcome to come by anytime, even sleepover," he adds with a laugh.

They get out of the car and Jackie hooks her arm with Luke's. They planned to spend the rest of the night Christmas shopping since the holiday was only a month away. 

"It's cute that the entire time, you would always bring us the food from the kitchen."

He chuckles. "Hey, it's my waiter instinct."

She laughs and leads them inside a cute 'modern antique' store. Everything was reasonably priced and practical to buy. 

"Looks like something your mom would buy," Luke points out. Jackie follows his gaze and smiles bitterly. It's a floral antique wall clock. It's sweet that Luke would know that right away, but it makes her think of how disconnected her and her parents are compared to Luke's family. 

"I'm sorry I made you meet my parents," Jackie apologized, picking up an old pocket watch. Her father would love this.

Luke frowns and knits his eyebrows together. "Why? They were lovely."

She snorts. "No,  _your_ family is lovely. Mine... they're uncomfortable and broken."

He sighs, watching her pay for the pocket watch. He didn't want to lie to her, it was the truth. Meeting Jackie's parents was a little unsettling, especially knowing how powerful and slightly arrogant they are. 

With a small paper bag in tow, the pair are out on the street again, searching for stores that possibly hold the perfect Christmas present for a certain someone.

"Your parents don't have to be your family, Jackie. Remember? Your family can be anyone you want them to be. It can be Evelyn, it can be my family, it can be your cat Monty. Family doesn't have to be connected by blood, they're connected by love."

Jackie smiles a small smile, glancing up at Luke. If you looked at them from the outside, you'd think she was looking at him lovingly. In fact, she was. For the first time, she looked at Luke with a different kind of loving look.

It was something more. 

She slid her hand down to his, intertwining their fingers. Luke's breath hitches.  _What's going on?_

Just like how she 'forced' herself onto Felix, she forced herself onto Luke. It's not like she needed to anyway. He was always open.

She stands on her tip-toes, her lips just grazing Luke's. He turns his head just in time to feel Jackie press her lips against his. 

Their friendship? History.

 

*~*~*

 

As Evelyn begins to finish up making Calum his cocoa, the voice mail on Jennell and her's land line phone begins to play after the both of them decide to ignore it. The odd yet magical feeling in the room was too hard to ignore.  _" Ev! Pick up the phone you idiot! Do I have to coax you again? Maybe if I told you that Calum was here you would pick up the phone. God, I swear, you're more  **in love**_   _with him than you are with Mr.-"_

Evelyn's eyes widen and she blushes furiously, fumbling with the phone and yelling at Jennell to shut up because Calum is in their apartment with her. He turns around from browsing through Evelyn and Jennell's photo albums, his expression surprised but pleased. 

"I swear, I'm going to lock you out again so you have no choice but stay over at Michael's.  _Again_."

She rolls her eyes and slams the phone back onto it's charger, squeezing her eyes shut before turning to give Calum a sheepish grin. "Uh... hey."

He smiles playfully, giving her a wave. "Hi."

Bringing his cocoa, she sits beside him and sighs heavily. "I'm guessing you want an explanation."

"That would be great," Calum says, giggling a little too much for the situation they're in. He can't help it, though. This is probably the best day of his life.

"You're the first boy that doesn't act like a high-and-mighty UNI sleazeball. Sure, I've had my time crushing on my professors, but obviously I'm not going to get in a progressive relationship with them. I've tried so hard to convince myself that dating would only get in the way of my goal of becoming an author, but-"

Lips meet lips, and Evelyn feels herself shutting her eyes and embracing the unexpected moment. Calum smiles into the kiss and lets his hands wander down her body, smiling even wider when Evelyn's hand grips his hair. He parts, making sure they're no more than a centimeter's distance away from each other. 

"What was that for?" Evelyn asks breathlessly, a smile evident in her tone.

He smirks. "You're not the only one that can be straightforward. Plus, we can always play student and teacher if you're up to furthering what we just started."

She scoffs and smacks him on the chest playfully. He smiles genuinely, tucking a strand of hair behind her burning ear.

"I'm not going to hold you back, Evelyn. That's the first thing I learned about you: you don't take shit. You have priorities and I respect them," Calum adds.

Evelyn grabs his face and pulls him in for a quick kiss. "Good, because I probably would have kicked you out if you said anything opposite of that."

He laughs. Not wanting her to escape, he pulls her in for a longer and deeper kiss. "So... are we gonna play student and teacher or what?" he inquires teasingly.

Evelyn giggles and wiggles her eyebrows. "If you behave, Mr. Hood."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wooo!!! 2/4 couples established!!! finally haha :D


	13. the one with je(nnell's)alousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the title is supposed to say 'the one with jennell's jealousy', but i saw a good word input in 'jealousy' haha

Alone at home, Maria moodily sulks about  Ashton  as she flips through an endless amount of channels on the TV. She settles on some crappy  rom -com film that doesn't satisfy her need to be distracted at all.

A knock is sounded from the door and she leaps from beneath her blanket, more than 100% hopeful that it's Ashton with a bouquet of roses.

Instead, it's Michael dressed up a lot fancier than usual. She cocks her head in confusion. "What's with the getup?"

He shrugs and asks, "May I come in?"

She nods, closing the door behind him. "What's up?"

Michael leans against the door. "I don't have much time to talk, seeing as I was forced to take one of Jennell's friends on a date tonight."

"Oh. That sucks for you," Maria comments with a frown.

He scoffs. "Thanks. Anyway, I'm here to talk to you about Ashton."

Maria frowns and sharply turns away from Michael, flopping back down on the couch. "I don't want to hear about it."

Michael chuckles. "C'mon. You and I both know the first person you were expecting at the door was Ash."

Her frown becomes deeper. "...you have me there."

He smiles. "You need to talk to him. I've never seen him so hung up on a girl before. He would usually get angry and find a replacement in two days flat. Instead, I found him singing  _Maria_ from  _West Side Story_ while making dinner last night."

She laughs. Ashton  _would_ do that. It was the one song he'd willingly sing in front of her. Michael places a supportive hand on Maria's shoulder. "Listen to him this time, will you? I wasn't supposed to tell you this, but Ashton'll be over any minute to talk to you. Are you okay with that?"

Even though Michael never acted like it, he could always be the older brother Maria really needed. She was glad Calum had a friend like him. She smiles. "I think so."

He smiles back. "Good, because I'm tired of listening to that goddamned song every day."

 

*~*~*

 

Last week, after pulling that unfairly unpaid shift at the cafe with her two favorite boys, Jennell found herself mad that she gave Chrissy as an option for Michael.

She  _knew_ how perfect they would be together, and for some reason, that  _really_ pissed her off. Maybe it was just a best friend thing? If Chrissy and Michael ever get together, they'll be spending more time together, and soon Michael won't have any best friend time with Jennell. Oh well, at least she had Evelyn.

"Jennell? Earth to Jennell?"

Jennell shakes her head. Disrupting her daydream was Christian and the new addition to her-  _their_ band, was Jason, the bass player.

"Thinking about Michael again?" Christian questions with a smirk. Jason snickers. Jennell rolls her eyes and plays along.

"Just thinking about how he'll be getting laid tonight but you two won't," Jennell laughs.

Jason frowns and sticks up his middle finger at her. "You're no fun," he pouts, although a giggle slips through.

"Hey, it's not my fault Andrea's having her time of the month this week!" Christian cries defensively with a smile. "It's not like you'll be getting some, either."

 _Huh_ , she thought.  _Maybe I should. Just to distract myself. Just tonight._

"Actually, I will. I just have to find some scumbag willing to," Jennell says. "C'mon, we're getting off topic. Let's take it from the top."

 

*~*~*

 

When Michael had called to tell Ashton that Maria was willing to listen to him, he was ecstatic. The entire drive to her house, Ashton had whistled  _Maria_ about three and a half times. He had put Michael on speaker for the first time just to annoy him.

He parked on the driveway, relieved that no other cars were present, meaning that Maria and him were to be alone.

The doorbell rang all throughout the house. Maria froze in her seat, staring at the door like a deer in headlights. She stood up, walking stiffly until her hand was on the doorknob. She did her best to put on her most relaxed expression.

The door opened, and the two of them looked at each other with the most different facial expressions ever. Wanting to cheer Maria up, Ashton put on his silliest face whereas Maria tried her best to stare up at him sternly. It worked for the first two seconds.

"Come in," she giggles, glad the tension was nonexistent so far.

Ashton follows her to the couch, cringing at the romantic comedy movie playing on the TV. "You and I both know that you  _hate_ movies like that," he comments. Maria shrugs. "I couldn't find anything better to watch."

She flops down on the couch, keeping herself a safe distance from Ashton. Just because they were comfy talking to each other doesn't mean they were comfy physically.

"So..."

He clears his throat, clasping his hands together as if this were to be an extremely professional discussion. It was odd to see him behave like this.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner about my past relationship," Ashton begins, already feeling a sweat breakout on his forehead. "I was just afraid that if I ever told you, you would never want to give me a chance."

"I should apologize too," Maria says shyly, tucking a stand of hair behind her ear. "It wasn't right of me to not listen to you entirely. I shouldn't judge you about your past. That's not fair of you." It hasn't even been two months into their relationship and Maria already feels like an expert in boyfriends, despite Ashton being her first. "At first, I was mad and I thought I would be fine without you, seeing as before I was fine without a boyfriend for all of my life. Then I realized that you made me a better person. I mean, I used to never listen, and now I am," she laughs.

"You make me a better person too," Ashton smiles, cautiously moving himself closer to her. "It's cheesy, I know, but I'm a cheesy guy."

Maria laughs. "I know."

He grins.  _I didn't realize how much I missed her_. "Are we okay now?"

For a second, Maria frowns.  _Resolving problems shouldn't be this easy, should it?_  The endless amounts of TV shows she's seen has shown that most situations take more than just a week to straighten out. Even when it is resolved, the atmosphere between a couple is usually different. With Ashton, it feels like they continued where they left off, as if nothing has changed. She grins. She's always hated change.

"Promise me no more secrets."

Ashton holds his left hand up and puts his right hand on his heart. "I swear on my dog."

She snorts and leaps onto him, kissing him relentlessly. "You're forgiven."

 

*~*~*

 

Unlike Jennell, Chrissy lived in the UNI dormitorys. Michael didn't mind. He's a certified visitor, so it was a treat when he walked through the halls at 7:00 PM, right when all the girls were coming in and out of showers and rooms asking for towels, shampoo, and what not. He didn't mind  _at all_.

He stopped at the end of the hall, hesitantly knocking on Chrissy's door, or at least what Jennell told him was Chrissy's door. It creaked open, revealing a Maria-sized girl with brown hair and big doe eyes. Michael promised himself that if he felt  _any_ sparks tonight, he would drop Jennell and give Chrissy a chance. Although, he doubted that would ever happen. Right now? Sparks are no go.

"Chrissy?" He inquires. "Michael?" she questions back.

"Yeah."

She smiles and shuts the door behind her. "Thanks for taking me out." She frowns. "Did Jennell refer to you as my 'rebound'?"

He lets her hook her arm with his and laughs as they make their way to Ashton's car. "Yeah. I'm guessing that wasn't your intention?"

Chrissy groans and blushes in embarrassment. "I was hoping she'd say it in a nicer way that wouldn't make me sound desperate."

He opens the car door for her and jogs around to the driver's seat. His hands begin to sweat once he pulls out of campus. Michael hasn't taken a girl on a date since sophomore year of high school, and he couldn't even drive at the time.

With a soothing smile, Michael replies, "Hey, it's not a bad thing to need a 'rebound'. It's a natural thing to want after a break up." She smiles. "Thank you."

They arrive at a fancy Thai restaurant. Even though Michael guaranteed this would be a one time thing, Chrissy deserved a respectful rebound date. At least from his point-of-view.

"Are you sure you can afford this? We can always go to a cafe or something," Chrissy suggests.

He furrows his eyebrows. "Why do you ask?"

"Jennell told me you go to our university, and university students are all low budget," she chuckles.

Rolling his eyes, he says, "That's Jennell. C'mon, I have a table reserved." He leads her inside and she smiles confusingly at him as the waitress requests they follow her to their table. "You reserved us a table? If I didn't know you would be my rebound, I would seriously think you were my ex."

They sit down and look through their menus. "Why? Are guys supposed to be the types that just walk in without a reservation?"

"Typically," Chrissy smiles. Her happy smile turns into a confused one yet again when she spots someone at the bar. Michael sees this and follows her gaze. Midnight blue hair, tan skin...  _Jennell_.

"What is she doing here?" Michael whispers, sharply turning back around with panic in his eyes.

"Shouldn't you be worried about that guy she's flirting with?"

He looks back again and grits his teeth. Jennell may have been vague about her past relationships with sleazy men, but he knew something was up because she had made a promise to  _never_ go down that road again. Why was she starting up again? What was she doing?

Michael raises an eyebrow. "Why do you think I should be worried?"

It was Chrissy's turn to be puzzled. "Aren't you her boyfriend?"

"No."

"I know. Jennell just talks so much about you that I just assumed," Chrissy laughs. "She's so oblivious to her own feelings sometimes."

His eyes widen. "What? That she likes me?" Michael asks hopefully.

Chrissy nods. "Although she talks about you like you're an idiot, it's out of endearment, really. I can see her eyes light up every time she says something about you she finds 'stupid'."

Michael looks back and sees Jennell laughing at something the guy has said. He can tell the laugh and smile is forced.

"Should I stop her?" He inquires.

She shrugs. "No matter the outcome, Jennell's going to be angry with you."

 

*~*~*

 

Maria knew her mother was going to be home soon. Any progress she has made on trying to get Ashton to leave was nonexistant.

"Ma _rrrr_ iaaaaa," Ashton whines as she pushes him towards the door. "I wanna cuddle more."

She laughs and rolls her eyes. "No, Ashton. You're going to get me in trouble!"

He considers this. He hasn't met Maria's mother yet, Calum is probably still pissed at him, and-

 _Shit_.

He forgot to tell her.

An explosion goes off in his head.

She's going to break up with him for real this time if he tells her.

But he promised no more secrets.

Ashton turns around and takes Maria's hands in his. "I have to tell you something."

Her smile drops and so does her heart. Her hold on his hands tighten and her throat begins to constrict. "I'm listening."

He sighs and forces himself to smile. "No more secrets, right?"

Maria nods and bites her lip. "No more."

"Then don't run away this time, okay?"

Her head becomes light and she feels that dizzy feeling again. Maria knows she's going to get pissed, but she has to hear him out this time. They're the ones that have to work it out. They  _always_ do.

Ashton confesses, "On that same night I told you about my ex-girlfriend, I made out with Evelyn."

Her hands fall out of his grasp and her jaw falls open. Ashton hurries to clasp them again. "I know I don't have any legit excuse to defend myself, but I know that I'm sorry and that I love you and I don't want to hurt you. I'm an asshole and if you want to end it for real this time, I understand."

Maria's brain struggles to find the right answer. What if they get in another fight? Will he find another girl to release his anger on?

All she knows she's sure about is that

"I love you, too," she whispers, slipping her arms around his neck and placing her lips on his. He doesn't react at first, mostly because he's surprised. Then he lets the moment happen until Maria pulls away. "I would rather we talk on the phone about this. My mom's gonna be home any minute."

Ashton nods and pecks her lips one more time before dashing out the door.

 _Did I just tell Maria I love her?_  Ashton thought.

Maria closes it with a teary smile. Her heart may be mended, but the evidence of damage still remains.

 

*~*~*

 

At the end of the night, Michael watches Jennell walk out with the blonde and greasy bastard while he grips Chrissy's hand and leads her out of the restaurant with a heavy heart.

"She'll come around," Chrissy says with a sympathetic smile as they drive back towards campus.

Michael chuckles darkly. "We'll see."

And when he thought  _he_ was the emotionally difficult one, Jennell came along. 

Wanting to change the subject, he adds, "Thanks for actually enjoying this night. It's not every day that someone willingly allows me to take them out."

She laughs and curtsies. "The pleasure's all mine." Michael chuckles, his gaze stopping on Jennell for a moment. She didn't notice, but he knew she was staring right at him. He feels shaken, as if she was there not just to pick up another guy like her old self.

"Do you want to go somewhere? I'm sure the last thing you want to do is be with your whiny roommate," he suggests. 

Chrissy smiles thankfully and swings his hand with hers. "Lead the way."

He nods and for a moment, he swears he can feel Jennell's anger from where he and Chrissy were standing. Michael shakes his head and forces himself to try and enjoy this moment. As much as he loved Jennell, someone with emotional stability like Chrissy would make him feel a lot safer. Maybe he should enjoy this moment as much as he can. If Jennell knew what she wanted, she would've been with him by now, right?

 

*~*~*

 

Watching him look happy,  _genuinely  _ _happy_ , with her made Jennell want to punch her 'date' for the night. 

"C'mon," the blonde, she vaguely remembered as Kyle (Kevin? Kris?), groans, both in impatience and irritation. 

As she walks off with him, Jennell watches Michael gaze down at Chrissy with another one of his sweet smiles. She shakes her head. Since when did she find his smiles  _sweet_?

"I'm in charge tonight, don't forget," Jennell states crossly, pulling Kevin in frustration. He purrs at her, which almost makes her want to throw up in his face.

Why did she always have to resort to scumbags like these?


	14. the one with 'what if?'s

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was on a dead-end on how i should write this one, so i'm sorry if this sucks :P

To Evelyn's relief, pre-Thanksgiving dinner was called off. Her step-sister, Carmelita, got in trouble for sleeping with her speech teacher and their parents' flight from London was cancelled due to thunderstorms.

The longer she could attempt to stay away from the entire 'Carmelita and Calum' situation, the better. Sure, she forgave him for that, but it still bothered her. Now that her and Calum were becoming something more.

It's not easy finding your way into Evelyn Grey's heart. It's like one of those fake mazes that never seem to have an beginning or an end. Except Calum cheated his way through and tore down all the walls.

No longer was her nose stuck in a book, whether she needed to study or not. She went out more, and like Jennell said, she lived life. Evelyn still kept one rule intact: he was not to hold her back whatsoever. No decision would be decided just because of Calum.

On the other hand, one decision that would change Calum's life and future forever would be decided because of Evelyn.

He was the underdog who finally got the girl. Even though he knew he should be cherishing every second spent with her, time was running out. Soon he would have to choose to stay for her or leave for football.

It wasn't something Calum would be up to doing with a girl, but because it's Evelyn, he might as well. She sat at the kitchen counter with her textbooks, papers, and laptop spread around her. Although Christmas was merely weeks away, Evelyn still had an exam on the last day before break, and she was scrambling to get some last minute studying in. Calum knew he should be doing the same, and he should probably be on the way to work by now, but he liked the serenity Evelyn emitted despite her hectic page turning and typing. Sipping tea and reading a book would be the last thing Calum would like to do, but he was doing it anyway, and he liked it.

Finished with his tea, Calum stood up and placed the mug in the sink. He looked up at Evelyn for a moment, admiring the way she knit her eyebrows when she couldn't understand something and when her glasses would slip down and she would push it back up with a wrinkle of her nose.

"Is there something on my face?"

Calum shakes his head, snapping back to reality. Evelyn raised an eyebrow at him. He chuckles.

"No. I'm just watching you is all," he answers softly, leaning over to give her nose a peck. Evelyn blushes, obviously still not used to the immense affection Calum was giving her. "Um, okay." She looks up at the clock and her eyes widen. "You should be heading to the diner, you'll be late."

Calum side-smiles and nods. Always a stickler for time, he would say. After slipping on his coat and giving Evelyn a goodbye kiss, he reluctantly asks, "Ev... if I were ever to leave, even if I don't want to... would you miss me? Would you ever feel like moving on from me at some point?"

He knows questions like these never irritate Evelyn. She likes to think, and it helps when she's a Literary major and all, but it's hard to be completely vague with her because she can always read between the lines.

"Sometimes I wonder why you don't ask if you should join football professionally to my face," Evelyn smiles, running a hand through her hair. "Although I do like the philosophical questions."

Calum smiles back and patiently waits as Evelyn constructs an answer. He loves the way she scrunches up her entire face when she's in deep thought.

"We can't predict what's going to happen to us in the future," she starts. "Well, we can, but we can't be completely sure that it'll happen. Yes, I'm certain I'll miss you; you shoved yourself deep enough into my heart that I'm sure I won't be able to get you out." Calum snorts at this, but Evelyn continues. "Maybe I'd want to move on from you, maybe I won't. It depends on what I'll want in the future. Will I want to pursue a man who's by my side at all times or a man who's barely there but will always be devoted to me? I don't know."

With that, she gives him a smiling kiss and shoos him out the door, fretting that he's going to be even more late for work at this point.

He's okay with the fact that he didn't get a straight answer, that's what it's like with Evelyn. And it's something he's more than sure he doesn't want to leave behind.

 

*~*~*

 

Just when Michael thought he had saved Ashton and Maria's relationship, he wakes up and finds Ashton surrounded by three cups of of coffee and wrapped in two blankets. He groans and forces himself to sit in front of his seemingly depressed friend. "What happened now?"

Barely looking up, Ashton replies, "Relationships are stressful."

Michael chuckles and nods in agreement. "This is why I never get in a serious one. Did she get pissed when you told her about Evelyn?"

"I don't know," Ashton sits up, "because I told her that I love her."

He spat out the coffee he was drinking from Ashton's most recent mug and smiled despite his shocked expression. "Wow! Uh, that's really fast, but wow! Good for you, man!"

Ashton shrugs, completely ignoring Michael's reaction. "Maria said it back, but we didn't finish talking about Evelyn. She just said we would talk about it on the phone, but she hasn't called back. Should I be scared or something?"

Excited for his friend, Michael switches to a chair next to Ashton and throws his arm around his bushy-haired friend. "No, she said she loves you, so I think you should think of the best. You guys always get through the toughest situations."

"What if we don't get through this one?"

"Trust me, you will."

At that moment, there's a rapid knock on the door. Ashton's eyes widen.

"Open up!"

His hopeful smiles falls. It was Luke. His head falls back into his arms and he waves Michael off of him. "You answer the door. I'm not in the mood."

With a roll of his eyes, Michael lets Luke in. The blonde, with a large grin plastered on his face, literally jumps in and yells, "Guess what?!"

Michael laughs and closes the door, preparing another pot of coffee for the both of them. "What?"

"You have to guess, idiot."

"Your dick grew an inch?" Ashton asked monotoneously, causing Michael to cackle in the background. Luke furrows his eyebrows and looks towards his red-headed friend. "What's his problem?"

"Girlfriend issues," Michael replies with a wave of his hand. "Just tell us already!"

Luke grins again and announces, "Jackie kissed me!"

Ashton's head shoots up and Michael clutches his heart, almost falling to the ground. "Jesus, Luke, don't joke around with us! I almost thought this was something serious and real!"

He glares at him and slugs him on the arm. "I  _am_ serious! It was magical," Luke sighs dreamily.

"Don't go all Cinderella on us," Ashton laughs, finally getting up from his spot and throwing the blankets aside. "How'd it happen?"

"Her parents were hosting a party she didn't want to be at, so she made me convince her parents that we were going out on a date. We stopped by my house and ate dinner with my family, then we drove to downtown and shopped around, and out of nowhere she stepped in front of me and kissed me in the middle of the sidewalk," he explained with a twinkle in his eyes. "Aw, guys, you should've been there."

Michael smirks. "If I was, I would've done some major ranting about PDA."

Ashton pats Michael's shoulder and snickers, "I would've pulled his pants down."

Luke glowers at his two friends. "You two are absolutely hopeless."

"Hey, you found happiness in this deadbeat town. If anything, we're ecstatic for you," Ashton says with a smile.

"So, are you two a thing now?" Michael inquires.

Luke blushes and shrugs. "I dunno. I guess so." He scratches the back of his neck, his face growing more red by the second. "I'm actually kinda scared to see her now. What if she didn't mean that kiss and it was just because?"

Michael throws his hands in the air and groans in exasperation. "You two and your 'what if?'s! You won't know what happen until you f*cking do something about it!" With that, he stomps back to his bedroom with a slam of his door.

Ashton chuckles silently, shaking his head. "He's right."

"I'm gonna go to work and pray Jackie walks through the door." Luke looking pointedly at Ashton. "I heard about your situation with Maria. Fix it, all right? You know we're all rooting for you two."

He nods and stares at the three coffee mugs on the table as Luke rushes out the door.

 

*~*~*

 

Just as Luke had walked out that door, Jennell barges into her apartment with Jackie in tow. Evelyn jumps in her seat, startled. "Where were you?" she asks Jennell.

"With a guy. I think his name was Kyle?" Jennell shrugs and angrily rips off her coat, sauntering into her room.

Evelyn furrows her eyebrows in concern and confusion, turning to Jackie for an answer. "Any idea what's going on?"

Jackie smiles a straight line, not as excited about her friend's gossip as she would like to be. "Apparently Michael and Chrissy had a great date night last night and Jennell's pissed off about it."

"But she was the one who set them up in the first place," Evelyn scoffs, shaking her head. "I can never understand why Jennell does certain things."

"She was trying to figure out her feelings for Michael. She was expecting to feel indifferent about him, but when she saw them walking hand in hand outside the restaurant after the date, she had steam coming out of her ears like a steam engine," Jackie explains.

"How can the most straightforward people in the world be so closed off about their feelings towards each other?" Evelyn wonders with a laugh. "We're gonna have to find a way to set them up one day. They're just so damn stubborn."

Jackie nods, but Evelyn could tell she couldn't care less about Jennell's situation. "Okay, something's up. What are you so distracted about?"

The blonde girl squeals and jumps and claps joyously. "Oh, Evie! I kissed Luke!"

Evelyn's eyes almost fall out of her skull and she chuckles in disbelief. "No way."

"Yes way!" Jackie exclaims. "It just felt  _so_ right, y'know? I don't know why I didn't realize any sooner!"

"He's liked you in the most obvious ways since freshman year," Evelyn laughs. "I'm surprised you found out now."

Jackie cocks her head in curiousity. "He has? I don't think we were friends back then, how could he-"

"Apparently you two were partners for some project, I don't know. It doesn't matter now, you've made him the happiest boy on earth."

"If anything, he's made me ten times happier than I already was," Jackie giggles ecstatically. "Anyways, let's talk about you Evie! How are you and Calum doing?"

Evelyn begins to choke on her own spit. She hasn't told anyone except Jennell about her relationship with Calum. "W-what do you mean? We're still friends, yes."

Jackie rolls her eyes and squeezes Evelyn's shoulders. "Don't kill Calum, but he couldn't help but tell the entire school about it."

The brunette groans and covers her face with her hands. "And I thought it was only you and Luke who couldn't keep a secret."

"Cut him some slack, Evie. He's had a crush on you for a long time," Jackie retaliates with a smirk. "Besides, you're a strong and sophisticated woman. Guys look at girls like you like you're their favorite football player or something."

Evelyn's smile falls a little. "He won't have me for long. He has the opprotunity to play football professionally and although it would be hypocritical of me to tell him to stay, I really don't want him to leave." She wraps her arms around herself. "For the first time, I have a sense of emotional security. What if I don't find someone like him again? What if it takes me thirty years or thirty lifetimes to find that again?"

Jackie rolls her eyes and hops up on the seat next to Evelyn. "Don't talk to me about 'what if?'s, honey! If you want the answer to that, you not only need to talk to Calum, but you need to figure that out yourself. You don't know tomorrow, you only know today."

Evelyn nods silently, wondering when Jackie became so wise. She looks towards the hallway where she could hear uncomprehensible muttering from Jennell's room. Unlike her, Jennell lived every day like it was her last, but in certain ways, she lived so much that she forgot about her sense of time.

While Evelyn was completely aware of how much time she had in life, Jennell didn't. And in both ways it can be good and bad to think that way.

 

*~*~*

 

"Thank you and have a nice day!"

The newly-married couple left the restaurant with a blissful wave as Calum cleaned up their table. It was a slow day. It was only him, Luke, and three kitchen workers in the back who were working. The couple was here for a while, and Calum couldn't help but easedrop on their conversation since they were his only table.

There were so many stories exchanged and jokes cracked that Calum was getting frustrated because there had to be a point where they couldn't talk anymore. Well, of course they stopped talking when they ate, but conversation continued between them in their eyes.

He and Evelyn weren't close to each other in that kind of sense, but it made the football decision much harder for him. Calum wanted  _that_ with Evelyn. He wanted that kind of happiness and future. Sure, football was great, but he would be spending most of his days out on the field and with men. Sweaty, gym-obsessed men.

"Afternoon, boys."

Luke looked up from the counter by the door and blinked himself awake. "Hey Jennell."

After bringing all the dirty dishes to the kitchen, Calum comes out. He overlooks Jennell with a concerned expression. "Whoa, where did you come from?"

Jennell hadn't changed from last night, still wearing the same clothes but a messier look with makeup and hair. "Got laid."

"I thought you were done with sleazy guys..." Calum said.

"Yeah, well, some people don't change, do they?" she spits out, slumping down in the nearest chair by the counter. "Can I get a breakfast meal, please?"

Calum motions for Luke to bring the order to the chefs. The blonde does as he's told and Calum leans against the counter. "What happened last night that made you so bitter all of a sudden?"

She feels like she's about to cry. She  _hates_ talking about her emotions, let alone ones that she now knows about. Jennell bites her lip and Calum's eyes widen. He's never seen her cry before, and it looks like she's about to. He places a hand on her wrist out of sympathy.

"Michael," Jennell answers sharply.

"What'd he do?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

Jennell leans back with frustrated sigh. "He came up to me and asked what I wanted to eat, that's what!"

Calum was even more confused. "What?"

"I just  _had_ to walk into  _that_ cafe, didn't I?" Jennell asked herself angrily. "He just  _had_ to come up to me and ask what I wanted. He just  _had_  to have the nerve and start up a five hour conversation with me, didn't he?" She stares straight into Calum's eyes and says, "He walked me home, left, and didn't force his way in like everyone else, that's what he did."

Unlike Evelyn, everyone else didn't know about Jennell's past relationship experiences before meeting her. Rumor went around during high school, but it never reached Calum's ears until she had spilled it to him a few months back.

Jennell is a complex personality. He never understood how Michael could decode her.

Not sure how to respond, since sympathy never seems to go anywhere with Jennell, Calum says, "That must suck."

She knits her eyebrows. He can feel an icy glare beginning to form. He continues. "Having someone that, for once, cares about you more than themselves, I mean. It must be a hard thing to get used to, huh?"

And it must be, for her at least. Calum's never met someone so out-of-touch with the meaning, let alone the  _idea_ , of love. Michael just barges in with his heart wide open and Jennell has no idea what to do with it.

Jennell shrugs slightly. "I dunno."

He can feel her closing off from the subject and decides not to push her more over the edge. Jennell deserves at least some privacy. "Want some hot cocoa to go with your breakfast?" He asks once Luke arrives with a plate of three pancakes and scrambled eggs. "It's on the house."

Jennell smiles gratefully. "Yes, please."

 

*~*~*

 

After finally finding some motivation to wash the piles of coffee mugs he compiled, Ashton dragged himself to the couch. Just as he sat down, the door flung open. His head swung in panic, thinking he was about to get shot in the head and sent to his deathbed in a bathrobe and a donut in hand.

He sighed in relief and also felt his breath hitch at the sight of Maria standing at the doorway looking a lot more polished than he did. "I really should lock the door more often," Ashton mutters, feeling himself smile.

Maria smiles reluctantly and fiddles with her fingers. "I'm sorry, I should've knocked. I wanted to apologize for not calling you. I really do love you, I swear. I'm just... I'm still uncomfortable with what happened between you and Evelyn."

Ashton shakes his head and stands up. "Don't apologize. I completely understand. Be as mad at me for as long as you want, just as long as you're still my girlfriend." She smiles thankfully and he pecks her on the lips. "You know, we resolve our problems so quickly it's creepy. We're like the dream team."

Maria laughs and closes the door behind her. "We love each other too much to fight."

"I love that word.  _Love_ ," Ashton giggles. "Look, I gotta get out of this bathrobe. I'll go change real quick, okay?"

She nods and he dashes down the hallway, a little embarrassed she had to see him like that.

Michael's door is slightly ajar and Ashton decides to check on him. No audible noise has emitted from his chamber for a while. He jumps at the sight of an unknown girl cuddling in bed with Michael and blushes for barging in. "I- uh, oh! Sorry." Michael chuckles. "It's all right, mate." He hops off his bed and smiles at the girl. "This is Chrissy. Chrissy, this is Ashton, my roommate."

She holds her hand out for Ashton to shake.  _Oh_ , Ashton thought.  _This is the girl Michael went out with... and Jennell hates._

"Nice to meet you," Ashton greets with an awkward nod, forgetting to shake her hand. "I had no idea Michael was... having company."

"I'm sorry I didn't ask for permission, dad," Michael snickers, causing Chrissy to giggle. Ashton peeks at the TV and raises an eyebrow. No girl, not even Jennell, would play video games willingly more than ten minutes with the red-head. Before Ashton can ask, Michael whispers, "She's a gamer. Cool, right?"

Ashton nods wordlessly. "Excuse me, Chrissy, can I talk to Michael for a sec?"

She nods. "Yeah, go ahead. I'm just gonna keep adding to my score so I can get ahead of him."

Michael gasps and sticks his tongue out at her. "Hey, not fair!"

He drags Michael out the room and to the living room where Maria was munching on a bag of chips. She raises an eyebrow. "Uh, I thought you were going to change?"

Ashton throws Michael on the couch and crosses his arms. "I was, but I found Michael with a girl that isn't Jennell."

Maria's eyes widen and she frowns at Michael. "How could you?!"

"C'mon guys, I can't just limit myself to one girl. Besides, Jennell was the one that set me up with Chrissy. We're getting along great and I finally have a shot with a girl for once in my life!"

Ashton sighs and crouches down, his face a mere inches away from Michael's. "Look me straight in the eye and tell me you aren't using Chrissy to make Jennell jealous."

Michael stares straight down into Ashton's pupils and says, "I'm  _not_."

He holds his stance for a moment longer before he's slightly sure Michael's not lying.

"Do you like her?" Ashton inquires softly.

Maria scoffs. "We should be punishing him, not encouraging him!"

Ashton looks between the two before holding both of Maria's arms gently. "Honey, I'm not doing either. I know we both know Jennell's finally starting to understand her feelings for Michael, but these two are figuring it out at a slower rate than we are."

He turns back to Michael, where he's clearly looking towards the hallway longingly. "I like her, Ashton. Sure, I may still like Jennell, but keeping our distance from each other might be the best thing for us right now."

"This is going to be hard on the whole group, you know that?" Ashton sighs.

"It's for the better," Michael repeats, his mind clearly somewhere else as he heads back to his room.

 

*~*~*

 

"Why am I here?"

Jennell slides down the wall on her back, sitting down with her knees in front of her, next to Ashton. He offers her a cig, which she accepts.

It's late at night, probably almost midnight. They both don't know how late it is, nor do they care.

"It's about Michael." As he lights up her cigarette, she groans. "I've talked enough about  _him_  for the day. Check up on me tomorrow."

It's an odd friendship they've developed. At first, they were only friendly to each other just because of the new group the eight of them formed, but over time, Jennell and Ashton found something in each other they didn't have in their closest companions. A secret apathy for life. And other similarities.

Ashton shakes his head, watching as the smoke drags out of his lips. He really needed to quit soon. For Maria.

"Well, did you know he's seriously pursuing Chrissy now? Did you know he wants to keep his distance from you for a while?"

Jennell bites her lip and blows out her smoke in a sharp, almost straight line. "No, I did not."

He turns to look at her, his cigarette dangling out of his mouth. "What do you think about it?"

"It bothers me a little, so I guess I'm getting somewhere with how I feel about him," Jennell sighs, "but he's right about the second thing. Besides, I haven't hung out with him in a while."

"Then talk some sense into him!" Ashton cries in exasperation. "Maybe he'll finally give you some thought and not Chrissy-"

She shoves his shoulder. "Ash, it's not fair to Chrissy to get in the way of something that is clearly working right now, and it's not fair to Michael to give him some sort of ultimatum."

He scoffs. "What if he ends up with Chrissy or some other girl for the rest of his life and you end up regretting not doing anything about it?"

She ignores his question and says, "We need to get ourselves sorted out before we confront each other. It's for the best."

Ashton shakes his head. "That's exactly what he said." He wraps a friendly arm around her. "I guess being friends is out of the question?"

Jennell nods. "For now." She smiles up at him. "Thank you for not being Evelyn."

He chuckles. "Thanks for not being Michael."


	15. the one with new beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, i know, it's been a while! i've just been busy in life and haven't gotten around to writing anything inspirational until now! i hope u enjoy xx

**MARCH 19, 2015**

"You know I'm not gala material. Your parents' friends and all these important people are going to hate me within seconds."

"Luke, you'll be fine. Just think about the time you met my parents. And the Christmas dinner where you formally met them."

"Why do you want me to remember the two most dreadful moments of my life? Jackie, I like you a lot, but I don't like you enough to be your Mr. Darcy or something."

"Oh hush, you'll never live up to be Mr. Darcy, anyway."

"Which is why you settled for second best."

She grins and pecks him on the lips. "Exactly. Now, turn around."

Luke does as he's told, and his jaw drops at the sight of himself. Although the pinkness of Jackie's room overshadows Luke, he can only see himself in the most polished tuxedo he's ever worn in his life. His mother insisted he buy a new expensive one instead of borrowing Ben or Jack's old suits.

"Can't our twentieth date finally be at a burger place instead of somewhere fancy?" Luke asks.

Jackie rolls her eyes. "On the twenty-first date, I promise. We need to go downstairs now that you're all done up."

He scoffs. "Excuse me, but we've been up here for an hour because of  _you_."

Jackie twirls around in her full-length champagne colored gown and smiles radiantly. "It was worth it, wasn't it?"

"Of course." Luke grins endearingly, kissing Jackie's light pink lips sweetly. He hasn't told her yet, but already he's head-over-heels in love with her. Sure, it's only been a month, but the feeling is right. "Hey, I'm sorry this is such late notice, but your dad asked if I knew anyone at work if they could waiter for tonight."

They began descending the large staircase.

"It's okay. Who are they?"

"Well, there's Calum, of course, Gary, Everett, Dustin, Bryan, Michael, Ashton volunteered to waiter as well-"

Jackie halted to a stop as Luke made it to the floor and looked up at her with a sheepish smile.

"Who was the one before Ashton?"

He begins to walk away, knowing Jackie was getting mad at him. "Michael, no one really," Luke mumbled quickly, but he could clearly hear Jackie's heels clicking next to him, so she must've heard him.

"Luke! You know I invited all the girls tonight, especially Jennell! You were supposed to invite guys that would get her mind off Michael, not  _Michael_ himself!"

"I'm really sorry, I just thought that since  _you_ invited Chrissy, it would be fair to bring Mikey."

Jackie covers her face and groans. "Oh  _crap_ , I invited Chrissy? When?"

"Yesterday," Luke snickers.

"We're the biggest screw ups in history," Jackie sobs, sauntering towards the kitchen. True to his word, Michael was visible as day, placing hors d'oeuvres on a silver platter in a proper waiter uniform, just like the other boys Luke invited. He waves at the both of them before returning to his work. Calum jogs up to them with an exasperated expression.

"Which one of you thought it was a good idea to not only bring Michael, but Chrissy? Jennell's still vulnerable and this'll only strain her's and Michael's relationship even more."

Luke and Jackie both raise their hands in shame. Calum shakes his head and crosses his arms. "Idiots. We can't uninvite them, but we can make sure Jennell doesn't cross paths with any of them."

"Can't we just tell Michael she'll be here?" Jackie questions.

Calum scoffs and rolls his eyes. "And be a waiter short? We all know Mr. Sizemore would lose his shit."

Luke nods and runs a hand through his hair. "Warn Ashton. Jackie, you handle the other girls. Don't tell Jennell or Chrissy, okay?"

Jackie nods, but a frown is evident on her face. "If we have free time, can we at least have one slow dance on the dance floor before the night is over?"

He smiles and kisses her. "I don't see why not."

"Gross." Calum sticks his tongue out and walks away.

 

*~*~*

 

Just as Evelyn parks the car, she looks down at her phone.

_Michael and Chrissy are at the gala! Keep Jennell away from them. - Jackie_

She looks up at the rear view mirror to see Maria raise her eyebrows at her knowingly. Jennell groans and sinks lower into her seat. "I wish you guys didn't drag me here. I was better off in my bed watching reruns of  _How I Met Your Mother_."

Maria snorts. "Then why did you take over two hours to get ready?"

Jennell shrugs and pouts. "Because."

Evelyn rolls her eyes and laughs, stepping out of the car. It's not every day she decides to look decent for a party, but because it's a gala hosted by Jackie's father, she felt pressured to go shopping with the girls for a gown. In fact, they all donned gowns.

\- - -

**THE GIRLS' OUTFITS:**

**EVELYN** (http://www.edressme.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/l/black_tulle_sequined_evening_gowns_by_nika_1_1.jpg)

 **JACKIE** (http://www.alizeebridal.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/s/p/spaghetti-strap-floor-length-chiffon-champagne-princess-bridesmaid-dress-p1bj0040-a.jpg)

 **MARIA** (http://www.worldstyle11.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/dresses-for-teenagers-2012-tva09omx.jpg

 **JENNELL** (http://lh5.ggpht.com/-f5QBWsMq_E8/UZD8AYGzY1I/AAAAAAAALZA/OIW3DHaq1wc/s0/imgef05dd18005fa0629624fd5b8473ee50.jpg)

**THE BOYS' OUTFITS:**

**MICHAEL, CALUM, ASHTON, EVERETT** (http://www.corbaraweb.com/shop/en/img/c/sala_bar.jpg)  **(IT'S THE LAST ONE BTW!!!)**

 **LUKE** (http://data2.whicdn.com/images/95386583/large.jpg)

\- - -

"I'm uncomfortable," Jennell complains. "I want my sweatpants back on."

"It's just one night, Jennell," Maria assures. "Besides, you said yourself, 'This dress is the only thing that'll help me lure in guys who aren't trash'."

"I can lure nice guys without looking sophisticated, thank you very much," Jennell argues, holding the door open for the girls. Jackie's squeals are heard over the loud chatter of the hundreds of guests already in the mansion. "You girls look  _gorgeous_! I love it."

The bubbly blonde leads them to the appetizer table in her ballroom and encourages them to take a small plate and eat as much as they want. "There's tables scattered around. I'll be back."

Evelyn shakes her head and observes the intricate interior decoration. "I knew Jackie's house was huge, but I had  _no_ idea this place held its very own ballroom!"

"Neither did I," Maria says in awe. She turns to look at Jennell and laughs. She's holding two large plates already filled to the rim with food. "Um, I'm ready to eat now."

"How about you go get us a table and we'll find you there, Gobble," Evelyn suggests, making sure she doesn't see Chrissy or Michael in the area where the tables are.

Jennell nods, already munching on her food. "Sounds good to me. See you guys later." She strides past crowds of pretentious and important people, not really caring whether or not she was being rude. She had  _refused_ to be here.

She thought she would do well with her self-diagnosed Michael rehab, but it's been tough. It's like quitting smoking, except she doesn't actually smoke on a regular basis. Only on special occasions/when Ashton feels like it, because smoking alone is sad in her case.

In the back of her mind, Jennell felt a horrible feeling. She wasn't supposed to be here. Hopefully Evelyn or Ashton would have her back, because this feeling was intense. Jennell finds a small and empty table not too far from the stage where Mr. Sizemore had hired a cheap cover band that exclusively sings  _ABBA_ and  _The Rat Pack_. If Mr. Sizemore had been more considerate with her band, then this party would have more life in it than a rock.

Playing with her band was therapeutic, she had to admit. They were getting somewhere, and they had enough songs and money from countless gigs to possibly record an album. Besides, their fanbase was growing by the hour.

Her phone buzzed in her bra. Even though it's improper, Jennell stuck her hand down her dress and whipped out her phone, earning a few stares. She smiles and pulls out her middle finger before checking the screen.

_cal told me not to tell you, and i'm sure the girls haven't told u for ur sake, but i think that's stupid. u deserve to kno: michael is here as a waiter and chrissy is here b/c jackie accidentally invited her. they don't know ur here, so keep an eye out, ok? xx - ash_

She sighs and puts her phone back.  _I knew it_ , she thought.

"Hey, are you okay?" an voice inquired.

Jennell looks up from her plate and replies, "I'm fantastic."

She wished she could take back her snarky remark, because this guy looked stunning. Chiseled jawline emphasized with a stubble, green/blue/brown eyes, dirty blonde hair, and a- was that a Welsh?- accent.

Instead of being offended, he chuckles and sits down, placing the silver platter he was carrying around on the table. "So am I."

Jennell smiles apologetically. "Sorry for snapping at you. I was dragged here and right now, this is the last place I want to be." He begins to nibble on the cheese and crackers on his tray and she frowns. "Aren't you supposed to be a waiter and take them around to everyone?"

"I would, but I couldn't give two shits at the moment. Some old dude snapped at me for looking like a teenager. I'm 21!" He complains, causing Jennell to snicker weakly. He furrows his eyebrows with a concerned smile. "Anyway, enough about me. What's wrong...?"

"Jennell," she says, placing her chin in an open palm, leaning her elbow on the table.

"Jennell," he finishes, returning the smile. "I'm Everett."

 

*~*~*

 

Even though they were supposed to be on duty serving guests  _and_ steering Michael away from Jennell (Chrissy hasn't arrived yet), Ashton and Calum had to greet their two girls.

"You look  _hot_!" Maria squeals, jumping into Ashton's arms. Ashton laughs and holds her tight, unbeknownst to the annoyed glares they were getting.

Evelyn raised an eyebrow as she reluctantly kissed Calum in front of all these potential scholars and literature geniuses. "Shouldn't you be working?"

Calum shrugs and smiles softly at her. "Yeah, but I'm on a self-appointed recess." Evelyn chuckles.This time, she initiated the kiss without any shame. "You finally expanded your vocabulary. I'm proud of you, honey."

He blushes. It's such a phrase a mother would say, but Calum knows Evelyn too well that this is her way of saying  _I love you_.

"So, where's Michael?" Maria asks.

Ashton and Calum look at each other with nervous expressions. "In the kitchen. He'll be serving entrées in a while," Ashton responds.

"I'll take her to the bathroom when Michael nears," Evelyn states, earning nods of approval.

"Ooh, this is like a spy movie!" Ashton exclaims in excitement. "You know what, from now on, we'll be using code names. All of you can address me as Koala One. Evelyn, code name: Been There, Done That. Maria is: Curently Doing That." He pauses momentarily to give her a hi-five. "Jennell is: It Happened Once In A Dream; Michael: If I Had To Pick A Dude. Calum... you're Koala Two."

Calum sighs in relief and loosens his body. "Oh thank God."

 

*~*~*

 

Just as he was picking up a tray, Michael feels a pair of small and silky hands cover his eyes. He chuckles, knowing she was standing on the edge of her toes to do this.

"Guess who?"

"Hmm. Haley Williams?"

"No, too tall. Guess smaller."

"Shakira? Because that would be f*cking awesome."

He turns around when she doesn't respond and grins, leaning down and kissing her happily. "Hey, Chrissy. God, you look  _beautiful_."

Chrissy giggles and twirls around in her dress, showing off her glittery gold gown. "Surprisingly enough, this was cheaper than I imagined."

"Always finding a bargain, it's why I like you so much." Michael kisses her again and picks up his silver platter. "I gotta take out these entrees. You go socialize and have fun, okay? You've seen no one but me for, like, a week now."

She pouts but agrees but, yet again, planting a quick peck on his lips. "You try to have fun, too. I hear you're getting paid a fortune for this."

Michael's eyes widen in joy and he nods. "I knew Jackie's parents were rich, but not  _this_  rich," he said, gesturing to the huge kitchen. Chrissy dashes out the double doors just as Michael follows her, making sure he's in the correct posture as he walks.

The minute he's sure she's gone, Michael lets out a long breath and drops his smile. He's not stupid; he heard Calum and Ashton say that Jennell is here.

It really shouldn't have, but it made him a bit excited. A little over three months ago, he and Jennell had vowed to give each other some space. It went to the point where they deleted each others' phone numbers.

_"Hey."_

_She hops up and sits on the counter like she always does. For some reason, it makes Michael's heart skip a beat, remembering the first time meeting her here in the cafe._

_He nods in acknowledgement. "Thanks for coming. I thought you were with your new boyfriend or something."_

_The minute he said it, Michael knew it was the wrong opener._

_"Being openly jealous about some random guy I met doesn't give you more right to think you own me than the next person." Jennell sighs and runs a hand through her hair. "I don't know why you asked me to see you, but I'm here to tell you that I think we should stop being friends for a while."_

_His mouth went dry. It was something he was anticipating for her to say, but something he was dreading to hear._

_She was letting him go, but at the same time, she was keeping him by the collar._

_"I know you like me, but you're unsure about it, right?"_

_Michael shrugs. It's the most sure thing he can do to give her a response at the moment._

_"Right. So, since I heard you're thinking of trying this thing with Chrissy, I thought it would be easier for you if I just wasn't around you for a good few months. Maybe even a year."_

_He almost frowns. Furrows his eyebrows. Bites his lip. Michael holds himself back to do any of those things. Except bite his lip. Because she's seriously considering setting him free, and it hurts that she's going to give up on him like that. That she won't even give him a second thought, a shot, a chance, a risk._

_Instead of fighting her, he says the safest thing he can. "Okay. I'm glad you said that, I was thinking the same thing. With you in the picture, it makes everything a lot harder. It makes figuring out the future harder ."_

_Jennell's breath hitches quietly in hurt as Michael takes off his apron and hangs it in the back room. "Exactly." She takes out her phone and opens Michael's contact in it, her thumb hovering over the delete button. "If it's all right with you..."_

_His mind blanks out._ Wow,  _he thought._ She's really done with me. I should've known I wouldn't have a chance in the world.  _'It's for the best' repeatedly chants in his head as he too takes out his phone and deletes Jennell's number._

_Just like that, with a smile and a wave, she was gone._

The more time he spent with Chrissy, the more he thought of Jennell.

He didn't think of her like he regret ever choosing Chrissy over her, but as in focused contemplating. Playing questions over and over in his mind like  _Why do/did you like her?_ and  _What makes Jennell better than Chrissy?_ and  _What makes Chrissy better than Jennell?_

No, he's not trying to get them to fight for him. That would make him the douche bag. He just wants to figure out what makes him feel  _right_.  _Who_ makes him feel right.

So far, the line between the two is blurred.

 

*~*~*

 

"Thank God I'm legal," Jennell sighs in ecstasy, sipping what was her third glass of champagne.

Evelyn watches her in disgust, a huge anti-alcohol advocate. "Thank God I hate that stuff."

Jennell rolls her eyes. "Need I remind you of Junior year?"

Her eyes widen and she shakes her head. "Nope," Evelyn refutes quickly. "Not at all."

Maria giggles, as the two girls snuck her a few glasses after her annoying insisting. "I love the bubbly."

"Hey girls!" Jackie greets, pulling a chair to sit with the three girls. "How are you all?" As Jennell responds, Jackie whispers discreetly to Evelyn, "If I Had To Pick A Dude at 11 o'clock." Evelyn looks over her shoulder and sees the familiar head of red hair. She nods and snickers, "Thanks, I'd Do It If She Were Older."

Jackie frowns. "I hate Ashton."

Jennell raises an eyebrow. "Uh, why?"

Swiftly, Jackie replies, "He took my Lukey away to talk about dogs or something, I don't know. I haven't been able to introduce my new boyfriend to someone prestigious yet!"

"Good ol' Jackie." Jennell smirks. She almost turns her head to see Michael when not only Evelyn reaches over to tell her she needs to go to the bathroom, but Everett appears with a charming smile and an open palm.

"I know I'm supposed to be a waiter, but for three minutes, may I be your dance partner?"

Maria, Jackie, and Evelyn's eyes widen in shock and surprise as Jennell accepts his offer and follows him to the dance floor.

"Sorry Ev. Go with Maria or something," Jennell says without looking at them at all.

"What was that?!" Evelyn shrieks as they're a good distance away.

Maria shrugs and lets her head fall to the table. She giggles at nothing.

"He's Everett, a friend of Luke's through one of his older brothers. He moved here last summer from New York," Jackie explained, "but I don't know how he knows Jennell."

 

*~*~*

 

"You told Jennell that Michael's here?!" Luke cried in panic, pacing back and forth despite the odd looks he was receiving from a group of important looking middle-aged men.

Ashton didn't react. "She's my friend, I had to. Besides, she's a lot stronger than you think."

Luke rolls his eyes. "I know that, I'm not stupid. Who I'm worried about is Michael. He's still not over her, unlike Jennell, who's already found a new potential boyfriend."

Ashton looks out into the crowd, vaguely seeing Jennell laughing and dancing with Everett. He smiles. "I don't see why you think that's a bad thing. Maybe Michael and Jennell weren't meant to be. Besides, Everett is a man who knows what he wants. I think that would be good for Jennell."

"Sure." Luke isn't convinced as he taps his foot rapidly and crosses his arms tightly. "Still, there's a good chance that if something comes out of Jennell and Everett, Michael is surely going to ruin it with them and him and Chrissy if he gets a chance to talk to her. He knows she's here."

"Great! Now  _who_  told him that?" Ashton was the one that was panicking now.

Luke throws his hands in the air. "I don't know!"

 

*~*~*

 

After taking care of all the guests in the back of the ballroom with their entrees, Michael takes a minute to relax and secretly munch on the appetizers. He watches in curiosity as Chrissy chats with a few women definitely over 30.

His gaze wanders over to Jennell. He had only seen her once when she was making her way to save a table for her and Maria and Evelyn. This time... this time it wasn't that pleasant.

There she was, in the arms of another guy, laughing and looking blissful. This time, Michael actually knew who he was, and that pissed him off.

"Mikey, are you okay? You looked stressed."

He shakes himself out of his gaze and focuses on Chrissy. A forced smile appears on his lips.

"I'm okay. It's just..." He leans in and whispers, "Some of these people are  _so_  snobby."

Chrissy giggles and looks around to see if anyone heard him. "I know what you mean. One of the ladies I was talking with went on for twenty minutes about her rare purebred cat or something. Cost her a fortune, apparently."

"Ridiculous." Michael shakes his head and laughs. Oh well, at least he was getting paid a three month's rent worth.

She plants a sweet kiss on his lips. "I'm gonna go find Jackie and thank her for inviting me. Take a break, okay?"

He nods and smiles as she kisses him again. Never has he felt so secure about himself and his life with any other girl.

It doesn't seem to comfort him one bit.

 

*~*~*

 

Everett and Jennell return from the dance floor looking like a newly-we'd couple. Evelyn panics as she sees Chrissy make her way towards them. She whispers fiercely to Everett, "I don't know if you're up to date on-"

He nods. "I know. Ashton told me. Don't rat him out. I'll take her out for another dance." Everett gestures to Jennell and turns back to her. "M'lady, another dance?" She laughs and shakes her head, but hooks her arm around his. "You're ridiculous. I hope you don't get fired for this."

As  _Tenerife Sea_ by Ed Sheeran begins to play, Everett holds her palm to his chest and sways her closely, making sure she faces the stage. "How are you?"

"Fine. I haven't seen him yet, so you all are doing a great job of making sure nothing happens."

Everett cautiously places a kiss on her cheek and whispers in her ear, "Well, if one of those two come your way, you've got me on speed dial."

Jennell chuckles, blushing as she feels his lips graze her skin. "I think you're the first guy who hasn't taken advantage of me."

"I think that's crazy that a guy would ever do that to you in the first place." He frowns.

She shrugs. "It's happened."

 _This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)_ by Natalie Cole is sounded from the band, and Everett pulls away a little bit as he begins to jump around, twirling Jennell around endlessly. She laughs crazily insisting he stop. He doesn't. He pulls her closer and sings along to the faster parts of the song, causing Jennell to laugh heavily. They throw their hands up in the air and dance as if no one was watching them.

At the end of the song, they return to the table to find entrees have been served. Everett smiles and kisses the back of Jennell's hand. "I'd better get back to work. It was nice dancing with you."

Jennell sighs dreamily as she settles down in her seat, finishing her glass of champagne.

The three girls watch her in confusion and interest. "Since when were you two so close?" Jackie asks.

"Since an hour ago," Jennell smiles.

"Love at first sight," Jackie giggles. "This is momentous!"

 

*~*~*

 

Some number of hours later, people were filing out of the Sizemore household. Mr. and Mrs. Sizemore stood by the front door, sending everyone with a smile and a little bit of small talk as the waiters brought them their coats and bags. 

Jackie and Luke sat on the staircase, both secretly sipping flutes of wine as they watched the guests exit the building.

"I haven't gotten an update from you all night. How were all the guys?" Jackie asked.

Luke sighs and leans back, the wine shooting down his throat. "A little tiring. Calum and Ashton are sore from all the walking and adjusting their backs into a proper posture like your dad instructed them. Michael... I don't know, I only talked to him once, and he was with Chrissy. He looked okay." He turned to look at Jackie. "Although, looking at him a few times, whenever Jennell was with Everett, his eyes would twitch, but his smile would never falter."

"You think he's not over her yet?"

"It's a possibility." Luke shrugs and twirls the small empty glass in his hand. "What about you? How were the girls?"

Jackie drinks all her wine and chuckles. "Not too bad. Jennell had too much fun for her own good and is waiting for Everett to finish up. Ashton left early to take Maria home... she's SO drunk.  Calum and Evie just left, but of course Evie had to play Mama Hen all night. I didn't talk to Chrissy too much either, but she was a social butterfly tonight."

"I wonder if Michael is still happy with Chrissy."

"She's a nice girl," Jackie says, "but I don't know if she's the kind of girl Michael could keep long term."

Luke nods in agreement. He leans his head on Jackie's shoulder and exhales tiredly. "Can I stay over tonight?"

Jackie kisses the top of his head with a small smile. "Aw, my honey's tired. Of course. Guest room or my room?"

He scoffs. "Your parents are going to shove me in the guest room, but I'll sneak over to yours after a few minutes."

"So the usual."

"Yep."

After all the guests have left, Calum and Evelyn, hand in hand, wave to the blonde couple on the staircase and giggle their way out the door. 

"They're so cute," Jackie coos. "I'm so glad Evie found a little love in her heart for Cal."

"And I've never seen Calum so happy in my life," Luke says.

 "C'mon Michael, we can't miss tonight's episode of Game of Thrones!"

"Shit!" Michael, with Chrissy in tow, dashes out the door, his coat only halfway on.

Jackie laughs. "Okay, as much as I feel like Michael doesn't appreciate his relationship with Chrissy, they are seriously the dorkiest couple I've ever met."

"I've never met a female version of Michael until Chrissy came along," Luke adds. "No wonder Jennell and her were close friends."

Jackie asks, "What, they don't talk now?"

He shakes his head, "Nope. Ashton told me Jennell found a book filled with thousands of legitimate excuses to use if you want to avoid a friend."

"Wow. She really wants to cut ties with the both of them." Jackie raises her eyebrows in astonishment. 

"Yes, yes I do." The couple turn back to see Jennell stumbling down the stairs, muttering curse words at her dress. "I was in your bathroom, Jackie. Someone clogged the nicer one downstairs."

"Ew." Jackie wrinkles her nose in disgust. "TMI, Jen."

"Don't call me that."

The sound of clacking dress shoes echo through the silent halls. Everett appears from kitchen, a tired smile directed towards Jennell. "Hey, I was wondering where you were. Did you need a ride home?"

Jennell nods, returning the smile. "That'd be lovely."

Jackie watches as Jennell's posture changes from slumped to straight and suddenly is elegantly descending the stairs as if she's done this a million times before. She shyly follows Everett back into the kitchen without saying goodbye.

"She's in love," the petite blonde squeals. "It's  _so_ cute."

 

*~*~*

 

**okay, i can't choose who should be endgame. these are my three options: jennell x michael, jennell x ashton (idk i'm feeling their vibe), or jennell x everett. comment below to help me out!**


	16. the one with unmade decisions (part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for being a prick and not updating regularly, but i'm trying the best that i can under busy circumstances! xx

One week later, Jennell has an announcement to make.

"I'm in love with Everett!" She swings open the diner doors, catching Luke, Calum, and Evelyn in surprise.

Being the reasonable person she is, Evelyn says, "Isn't it a little too early to tell? I mean, you guys haven't gone on a date, you only met him a week ago-"

Luke sighs dreamily and shrugs. "I don't think there should be certain time frame to when you should fall in love with your significant other. I fell in love with Jackie  _way_ before we started dating."

"I agree with Evelyn on this one," Calum speaks up. The three of them look at him in shock. "What? Ev's rubbed off on me." Evelyn smiles and kisses him on the cheek.

Jennell tisks in disappointment. "I thought you knew better Calum. Besides, weren't you the one that said you thought Evelyn was the  _one_ -"

In seconds flat, Calum's hand is on Jennell's mouth, his cheeks burning in embarrassment. "I said  _nothing_."

Thankfully, Evelyn was too focused on her textbook. "Sorry, what were you saying Gobble? I have a mid-semester final coming soon and I need to cram in all this studying if I want to balance spending time with all of you imbeciles."

Jennell coos. "At least it's imbeciles instead of losers this time."

"Have you told Everett this yet?" Luke asks.

She shakes her head. "No. He's taking me out tonight for dinner, though." Jennell's eyes widen and she begins to panic. "I don't remember if he said if it was a date or not. Shit. Do you think it might be? I mean, he's been really touchy with me and-" She clears her throat and tries to gain back her composure. "Sorry. Never mind."

Evelyn giggles and pinches Jennell's cheek. "Oh. My. Gosh. You have a whale of a crush on this guy! I've never seen you so... perturbed before!"

Calum chuckles. "This mid-final's turned you into a human thesaurus."

"If I were you, I'd dive in for the kiss. You seem like an 'actions speak louder than words' kind of girl," Luke suggests.

Jennell nods. "I am... thanks guys! I'm gonna go find an outfit- I mean, I'm gonna go take a nap and not care about this at all..." With that, she dashes out the door. 

Evelyn rolls her eyes, closes her textbook, and shoves it back into her messenger bag. "I'll see you two later. Jennell's never been on a proper date before and I don't think she can do this alone." She kisses Calum briefly before following a panic-stricken Jennell.

Calum sighs in relief, motioning for Luke to follow him out the back door. 

"What?" Luke inquires. 

"I need to tell you something. You can't tell Evelyn, okay?" Calum whispers.

Luke's eyes widen. "This doesn't sound too good."

The raven-haired boy nods. "It's about that offer to play professionally in the football league. Louis Tomlinson, y'know, the boy band guy that kinda owns the Doncaster Rovers? Well, he's sent me a letter asking if I want to join, and there's a reasonably large amount of money involved."

"That's amazing, Cal!" Luke exclaims ecstatically. "Are you gonna take it?"

For a moment, Evelyn's face runs through Calum's mind. "I... I don't know."

Luke examines him closely. "You're thinking about her, aren't you?"

There's a long pause, then Calum replies, "I love her so much, Luke." 

The blonde coos and pinches Calum's cheek. "That's so cute!"

"Don't do that." He slaps Luke's hand away and scowls. 

Luke shrugs. "Dude, I don't know. Evelyn's done nothing but make you a better person, and this opportunity is definitely the next step in furthering your career as a football player."

Before Calum could respond, Luke heads back into the diner. Calum runs a hand through his hair and says to himself, "But what if I don't  _want_ to be a football player all my life?"

 

*~*~*

 

Jennell and Evelyn's apartment has temporarily become a catwalk with Jennell strutting out of her room with a new outfit every three minutes. The only ones invited were Ashton, Maria, Evelyn, and Jackie.

"Okay... how about outfit #27?"

This time, Jennell is in a babydoll black dress with a denim vest and high-tops.

"You're dressed like you're playing a gig again," Jackie comments with a look of distaste. "Don't you have any pink in your wardrobe?"

As Evelyn and Maria make sounds of agreement, Jennell rolls her eyes. "I'm not  _you_ , Jackie."

Ashton sighs in exasperation. "Which is why this one's my favorite one! The other outfits made you look like you were trying to be someone else."

Jennell grins widely and looks at herself in the mirror. "Ash is right... this is the one!"

"Can you at least add some floral print?" Maria suggests.

As the girls try to convince Jennell to change her outfit to one of theirs, Ashton gets a phone call. He steps outside and answers it. "Hello?"

"Luke told me about Jennell's date."

Ashton's smile falls to a concerned frown. Michael didn't sound miserable this time. In fact, he sounded quite evil.

"Mike... what are you up to?"

With that, Michael hung up.

 

*~*~*

 

Within the week after the gala, Chrissy knew something was off with Michael ever since he saw Jennell with Everett.

In fact, ever since they first started dating, Chrissy has noticed there was always something a little different about Michael. He never really allowed himself to be, well,  _himself_  around Chrissy.

Out of all the friends he had, Michael was always reluctant to talk about Jennell. It upset Chrissy because Jennell was one of her good friends that helped her with her previous breakup and helped her meet Michael in the first place. Although meeting Michael was one of the best things that could have happened to her, it didn't seem to be that way for Michael.

That's when she realized, once looking through Michael's phone while he wasn't looking, that he had deleted her number. Not only that, there were many notes on his phone and in his room that at first glance, she thought were songs about her. Reading through them again, Chrissy realized "coffee-colored skin" and "you don't give two shits about me" we're more directed towards Jennell, which totally makes more sense.

There was an odd yet strong attraction between Jennell and Michael. She could tell it couldn't be broken ever since their first date together. Nothing was going to keep Michael away from the girl who stole his heart, not even a video game nerd and All Time Low freak like Chrissy.

That's why the day after the gala, after inviting Michael into her dorm room, she stated promptly, "I think we should break up."

Not surprisingly, he was unaffected. Their relationship wasn't exactly one where they constantly gave each other kisses and cuddles and probably had sex three times a week. No, they played video games, ate junk food, talked for hours about nothing after three bottles of beer, and not once had sex. They were more like platonic soulmates rather than boyfriend and girlfriend.

And they had agreed on staying friends and that their relationship wasn't a waste of time.

"Go get her, okay?" Chrissy said to Michael before he walked out the door. He had blushed, not knowing that Chrissy knew about his gigantic crush on Jennell. "You two were meant to be together. It's just going to be hard to get there."

That's why tonight, Michael planned to sabotage Jennell and Everett's date.

He didn't want to, believe him. There's at least a 68% chance she's going to hate him for the rest of their lives, but Michael knew he needed to make a move. No more waiting around for her to make up her mind. He needed to be straightforward.

 

*~*~*

 

Jennell sat in her room, staring at herself in the mirror. She hasn't gone on a proper date since high school, so this was a lot more nerve wracking than it should be.

It's too bad it's not with Michael.

 _No!_ She thinks.  _You got over him, remember?_

But she can't help thinking about Michael. She's been thinking about it ever since they stopped talking to each other.

Jennell missed him. She missed feeling confused about whether or not she liked him, when in reality, she  _loved_  him ever since homecoming. She missed watching TV and seeing who could remember what the character was about to say. She missed playing him songs and watching him unravel and reveal his true feelings with one stupid smile. She missed watching him play her his songs and figuring which lyric was about her. She missed how he would always trip himself going up the stairs, but then again she would do that as well. Jennell missed her idiot.

And now it was too late to figure out if he was worth getting all of that back.

Everett was in her life now. He was being nice, kind, charming, and easy to figure out. So easy that once he picked her up for their date, Jennell couldn't remember why she went so head-over-heels for him.

He was boring. Everett informed her that he's in his second year in computer science. The more he talked and the more she tried to find out how much they had nothing in common, the more she wanted out of this.

She was ready to call Evelyn to get her out of the restaurant they were headed to, but she had a feeling it wouldn't be too hard to do that.

He had driven them to the cafe on open mic night.

 

*~*~*

 

"They're here," Ashton says to Michael as he rings up another customer.

Ashton had never seen Michael so nervous. He wasn't 100% into Michael's plan, but along with the rest of the group, he believed in Michael and Jennell.

If putting them together by force won't work, he might as well let Michael do his thing and hope for the best.

"Cover me for the next hour, will you?"  
He didn't even wait for Ashton's response as he ripped off his apron and threw it on Ashton's head.

The customer next in line snickered.

"Oi, mind your business! What can I get you?"

 

*~*~*

 

Jennell and Everett ordered their coffee and waited at a table near the stage.

She was getting more and more nervous. Michael always worked on open mic nights. She was bound to see him sooner or later.

"Hey, are you okay?" Everett had reached out and placed a comforting hand over her shaky one.

 _Why did I doubt ever liking him?_ she asked herself.  _He's so good to me..._

Jennell nods. "Don't worry about it."

He smiles. "Well, I should. You're my date and I'm the host. I'm supposed to make sure all you have is a good time."

All negative thoughts about Everett go flying out the door.

"Hey guys."

Jennell's focus is redirected to the person on stage. She gulps. Her worst nightmare has come to life.

Michael plugs in his acoustic guitar. "I have an original I just added the insisting touches to. I was going to play it months ago, but I thought now would be just as good of a time to do it." He strums his first chord. "This is called  _The Only Reason_."

She almost feels herself fall off her chair. Michael played this to her last year on homecoming night. The version he was playing had a more somber and slower rhythm and feeling to it. She knew he did this on purpose.  _That bastard,_ she thought.

_Don't talk, let me think it over,_   
_how we gonna fix this?_   
_How we gonna undo all the pain?_   
_Tell me, is it even worth it?_   
_Looking through a straight line,_   
_taking back the time we can't replace._

Her feelings were more mixed up than ever _._ Why couldn't she just continue living the life she had before she met Michael? Things were so much easier then. Things are easier  _now_. Everett is a simple man, the perfect guy, the kind of person you need in your life for the long run.

_All the crossed wires_   
_just making us tired._   
_Is it too late to bring us back to life?_

Jennell tried to send him a message. That he had his chance a year ago, and he blew it.

_When I close my eyes and try to sleep,_   
_I fall apart, I'm fighting hard to breathe._   
_You're the reason, the only reason._

_Even though my dizzy head is numb,_   
_I swear my heart is never giving up._   
_You're the reason, the only reason._

Michael opened his eyes and found himself staring into Jennell's.

At first, he was excited. Maybe this was working.

Then he dove deeper into her eyes. His heart sank. They were still angry and confused, but he could see that in her movement, Jennell didn't want to be there with Everett. Deep down, she missed him.

_I feel you burning under my skin,_   
_I swear I see you shining,_   
_brighter than the flame inside your eyes._

_Bitter words spoken,_   
_everything broken._   
_It's never too late to bring us back to life._

"Is that the Michael guy all your friends talk about?"

Jennell snaps back to reality, facing Everett with a dumbfound expression. "W-what?"

Everett smiles bittersweetly. "They tell me he's still in love with you. And I can see that you've always loved him."

Jennell scowls and replies, "I thought I made it clear when I showed you I didn't have his number."

He wasn't convinced. "That doesn't mean you liked having to do that."

"My confidence in you actually liking me is wavering." She begins to smile devilishly. "If you really like me... boo at Michael's song."

Everett's face becomes panic-stricken.

"Why?"

"Because he's trying to win my affection with this sad song about how we could have been something."

_Don't talk, let me think it over._   
_How we gonna fix this?_   
_How we gonna undo all the pain?_

Michael strums his last chord, earning a large amount of audience support.

Except from one individual.

"BOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Michael's smile falls. He puts down his guitar and steps off the stage. "Something wrong with my song?"

Suddenly, Everett doesn't seem so poised. "Yeah, it's about my girlfriend."

"Everett, we're not-"

"Not right now," Everett interrupts rudely.

Michael furrows his eyebrows. "Mate, that's not how you talk to a lady."

"You're one to talk, seeing as you purposefully sang that song tonight to try and steal Jennell away from me." He clenched his fists.

Jennell shoots uprising in her chair. "Everett-"

It was too late. Everett's fist collided with Michael's face, sending the singer down to the ground out cold.

Before Jennell could do anything, Everett was dragging her out the cafe, leaving her wondering what the hell just happened.


	17. the one with mr. garrison

It's an important night for Calum and Luke tonight. They have a match against their rival school for the championship, and because the rivalry goes back a long ways, scouts find this game to be one of the best ones to look out for young, fresh meat.

Although Calum already has offers in for places to possibly continue his football career, impressing the scouts would definitely get him on a higher platform, exposing him to even more opportunities, as well as Luke, who has been a curiosity to the scouts' eyes.

Evelyn knew this would be a big game for him, so she decided to tell to her professor before leaving class.

She was supposed to have Poetry and Politics class today, but since the class would run through Calum's entire game, she made sure to go in early to hopefully get an excused absence.

"Hello, Mr. Garrison," Eleni greets with a polite smile.

"Evening, Ms. Gray. You don't have your bag with you today," Mr. Garrison comments.

Evelyn nods. "That's why I'm here. I was hoping I could excuse myself from class today. My boyfriend has a game tonight and this is one I definitely don't want to miss. I've missed several of his games for this class, and I know it's a horrible excuse, but I would do anything to make up the class. I swear."

Mr. Garrison raises an eyebrow. "Are you talking about an extra credit opportunity? You know I don't do that, Evelyn."

"No, I know," Evelyn replies quickly with a shake of her head. "But I'll do anything else. If missing today's class is too much of an inconvenience."

He nods slowly and bites his lip. "I quite like the sound of that..." Mr. Garrison reaches for Evelyn's waist. For a second, Evelyn is frozen in place, utterly afraid and confused as to what was going on. Then, coming back to her senses, as Mr. Garrison was about to pull her in, she shoves him away and screeches in horror.

"What the hell!"

Mr. Garrison, unaffected, holds his hands up in defense. "Hey, I thought you were trying to make a move."

"You're a fucking sleaze! I wasn't talking about...  _that_!" Evelyn fists her hair in her hands and backs away towards the door. "You're fifteen years older than me, than all the students! Y-you have a wife and kids! Do you have any sanity?!"

Mr. Garrison only stares at her in lust.   
Evelyn wants to throw up at the sight of it.

"I am reporting your filthy ass!" She screams before running out the building and into the dense air, feeling her body go out of control.

 _What the hell just happened?_  She thought.

 

*~*~*

 

Meanwhile, Calum, Luke, Jackie, and Maria were at the diner. Jackie and Maria were waiting for the two to finish up with their shift, cheerleader outfits already on.

"I'm really nervous for tomorrow night," Maria says out loud, fiddling with her pom-poms.

Jackie raises her eyebrows. "Why?"

"Ashton's coming over to meet our parents," Calum explained, not looking very enthusiastic about it. "The funny thing is, we're both dreading it, and our parents are over-the-moon excited about it."

"I thought you're okay with Ashton. He does come and jam with us a lot," Luke says, wiping down the counters.

"I do, he's a cool guy, but as Maria's boyfriend? Not so much," Calum sighs, earning a glare from his sister.

Jackie laughs and shakes her head. "I can't believe you still can't trust him. You're a tough cookie, Mr. Hood."

Her laughter is immediately cut off when she sees a small crowd of girls at the end of the counter, all of them from school  _and_ talking/flirting with Luke.

Ever since the first game he helped win for the school, Luke's been a huge star. Both on the football team and the popular crowd. It was nice for Jackie's crowd and friends to finally start accepting Luke being in their group, but she didn't like how  _too_  accepting they were.

Girls paid more attention to him. They talked to him and  _touched_  him as if Jackie didn't exist.

"Aren't you going to go kick their asses?" Maria inquires, following Jackie's gaze. "If I were you, I'd do it right now."

Jackie tightens her lips together and replies, "No. Luke's a good boyfriend. I know he won't do anything to hurt me. Can we go back to talking about this Hood family situation?"

Calum wasn't convinced. "You can be a little too optimistic sometimes, Jacks," he says. "It's gonna get the best of you someday."

Jackie frowns at him, then plasters on a smile. "If anything, the one people are attracted to is a nice smile. What's so wrong with being happy all the time?"

Calum answers, "It prevents you from being human."

 

*~*~*

 

Jennell paces back and forth a little ways away from the stadium. Her nerves make her reach for the cigarette Ashton was just using.

"Hey!"

"Evelyn's not here yet, Michael might be here, and I'm panicking, so let me have it," she grunts, taking a long drag. "Plus, shouldn't you be quitting? Maria says she hates kissing you right after you smoke."

"I've been working on it. Went a good week and a half without it. I'm aiming for three weeks after this one." Ashton furrows his eyebrows together in concern. "You're not looking so hot."

Jennell growls at him. "A lot has happened to me in the past 24 hours."

"Like what?" He asks in amusement, almost laughing when Jennell doesn't notice him taking back his cigarette.

"I broke up with Everett. Guys with tendencies to beat up people for their girl should  _not_  be romanticized," Jennell says, surprising Ashton.

"I thought you were in love with him yesterday."

"He made me believe he was worth a shot," she sighs, this time snatching Ashton's cigarette and smashing with her foot. "Stop smoking!"

"Then you stop too!" Ashton exclaims with a roll of his eyes. "I mean, if Everett was the one guy that made you think differently, I definitely think he's worth a shot."

Jennell's demeanor becomes shy and quiet. She keeps her eyes on the ground as she mumbles, "He's not the only guy I put faith in."

This didn't escape Ashton's ears. "Excuse me? Jennell Goble actually has a crush on someone other than Everett. I  _have_  to hear this."

Jennell blushes, but keeps her lips turned into a frown. "You can't tell anybody. If you do, I'll tell Maria you didn't quit cold turkey."

Ashton's face turn white. "Okay, I promise, I swear."

She sighs, knowing this is literally the moment of truth not only Ashton has been waiting for, but  _all_  of her friends have been waiting for. How they knew she would eventually come to this conclusion sooner or later, she made sure she would ask them.

"Michael. I believed he was worth a shot and I still do."

Ashton's first reaction was his jaw dropping to the ground. Then he covered his mouth with his hands. He jumped around and screamed like a crazy man.

"How can I not tell anyone?! Everybody's been waiting for this declaration of love since the second you two first met! And I witnessed that second!"

"First of all, that was not a declaration of love. I just said I like him, okay? Second of all, I don't want people getting too nosy, so when the time comes, I'll tell him. Then you can tell everyone," Jennell says, the blush on her cheeks burning more than usual.

It was a weird feeling to finally know how she felt about Michael. There was no denying Jennell hated not being around him, and she missed everything about him. She just wanted her Michael back, and if that meant being months apart to sort her feelings out, then so be it. Jennell didn't regret setting that time out for herself one bit.

"Is that going to be soon? Because there's a good chance I might accidentally tell Maria, like, right now," Ashton says giddily.

She shrugs. "I'll try to keep it in a two day time frame."

"Good, because I might pee my pants learning about this new information."

 

*~*~*

 

The game was about to start in minutes, and Calum was still stuck sitting in front of his locker. He stared up at it, then proceeded to open and close it. 

Was this something he wanted to do for the rest of his life? Hearing the squeak of the lockers, sneakers, and smelling nothing but sweat and grass? 

"Cal. It's almost time."

The raven-haired boy looked up from his locker to see Luke waiting by the door. Calum hangs his head. "Is it shitty of me to think that I would sabotage this game just to get those scouts off my back?"

Luke frowns and leans against the doorway. "Yes... because this game isn't all about you. Some people are taking it more seriously to get into a uni team, let alone a professional team, than you."

Calum shakes his head. Right. Luke was very excited for this day. Ever since he won his first game, Luke's finally gotten on the right track and has been able to show his true potential as a player ever since the coach begrudgingly let him take Felix's spot on the field. Calum's never been more proud of him, to be honest. It keeps the spotlight off him more. Gives him more time to think.

"Sorry, you're right," he sighs, smiling sheepishly. "I don't know what I was thinking."

Luke scoffs. "You really like Evelyn, do you?"

Calum feels his heart speed up again. He unconsciously reaches his hand up to his chest, trying to make it stop. "Y-yeah..."

"You're blushing," Luke laughs. "Look, this may not be helpful right now, but you'll figure it all out once you get out there and play the game."

Calum frowns. He was right. That didn't sound helpful at all, but Luke can have his moments, so he just nods and follows his friend out on the field, ready to defeat the opposing team.

 

*~*~*

 

Evelyn makes it to the stadium a few minutes before the game starts, stumbling inside. She sees Maria and Jackie right away, waving their pom poms and cheering in encouragement on the sidelines. She turns around and scopes the seats, trying to find the rest of the group. Eventually, she finds Ashton and Jennell sitting right behind their school team's benches. 

Right away, Jennell can tell something is wrong with her best friend. 

"Ev, are you okay? You look sick."

Ashton watches her carefully as she sits down with a blank expression, Jennell throwing an arm around her shoulders.

"Can you promise me something?"

Jennell knits her eyebrows together and replies shortly, "Yeah. Anything."

"Please don't make anymore jokes about me having crushes on professors.  _Ever_."

She's confused for a moment, and so is Ashton. After allowing Evelyn to whisper in her ear, Jennell shoots up from her seat with her fists clenched and her teeth crunched together.

"Gobble? What's wrong?" Ashton inquires in concern. 

Jennell growls, "She got groped by one of her teachers."

Ashton gasps and looks down at Evelyn, who was trying her best not to show any emotion. So far, she was doing pretty well at it.

"Did you tell anyone?"

Evelyn shakes her head quickly. "N-no... I didn't think anyone would believe me... I mean, I told him I would report him, but-"

"You're reporting his ass, okay?" Jennell demands. "This is  _not_ something that you can just hide for the rest of your life! He needs to get punished, or even better, fired, and forever filed as a sexual offender. Now,  _you_ have to promise me something. Can you do that, Ev?"

She crouches down to Evelyn's level and grabs both of her arms with her hands. Evelyn stares into her eyes and nods slowly. Ashton raises an eyebrow. He knew they were both best friends, but he didn't know how deep their friendship went.

"Promise me that once we're both on campus, we head straight to the one staff member that you put the most trust in, because I want you to go through this as comfortably as possible. In fact," Jennell looks up to Ashton, "You come with us, Tarzan. The more, the merrier."

He snorts. "I have a nickname now." Ashton drops his smile when the two of them glare at him. "Right, sorry, super serious situation. Um, I would have to bring Michael with me, because he can't drive for shit and we both have the same class tomorrow morning."

Evelyn's eyes widen and she turns to Jennell. "I don't want you to cause you any-"

Jennell shakes her head. "No, that's fine. Whatever. As long as I'm with you every step of the way, okay?"

The brunette smiles a teary smile, and hugs the both of them fiercely. "I love you guys."


End file.
